Fogo Island is a windy place. There’s something powerful about the wind gusts that sweep across Newfoundland along the easternmost coast of Canada, and indeed North America. Therefore, some concessions must be made in order to erect furniture in a 100-year-old wooden building built on piers. “On particularly windy days, the building shifts, so the lathes and other machinery have to be adjusted more regularly,” says Fogo Island, a contemporary craft studio that grew out of the now-famous Fogo Island Inn. Michael Murphy, who will lead the workshop, explains. “But it’s worth it.”
All around him are tall Gothic windows that frame views of the sun-drenched North Atlantic Ocean. But what Murphy has to say goes beyond the ground. It lies within the vitality and ingenuity of the island’s design heritage, illuminating an exciting path forward. The yellow-painted building feels a bit like an old church, except for the workbenches, the scent of juniper wood, and the handmade quilts piled up on the second floor. And in some ways it is.
It was originally used as a meeting place for cod fishermen, who were the lifeblood of the island for 300 years. Sure, there was a real church, but there was a lot of respect for the fishing industry. It was the local currency until commercial trawlers began raking the waters in the 1960s, culminating in black Monday-like moratoriums in 1992. Timber fishing boats were pulled out of the water, levees were built, and the economy became independent and overgrown. Over the centuries, it seemed to slide away in the wind.
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Fogo Island Inn was designed by Newfoundlander Todd Sanders.
Courtesy of Alex Fradkin
Local woodworkers worked with designers to conceptualize inn furniture like this room.
The changes that began in 2006 are well documented. An eighth-generation Islander and entrepreneur, Geetakob’s vision is for a 29-room luxury inn that will become a new economic engine. Self-sufficiency, she surmised, was as much a natural resource on Fogo Island as boat-making or quilt-making.
So the inn’s Scandinavian design and wood-fire-dotted experience boosts the tourism economy (bringing in tourists like Gwyneth Paltrow and David Letterman) by tapping into the islanders’ skills. and will do it. “Gita wanted to ensure that the traditions and knowledge of local crafts were passed on.The items filling the inn were made by people here, not by someone in Europe or Asia. “We wanted to ensure that it was authentic,” Murphy says.
Provided by Jeremy Harnum
A new Panto chair made in a workshop on Fogo Island.
Provided by Paddy Berry/Reflection Harbor
Reflection Harbor Quilt by Janet Langdon.
Cobb’s team invited designers from around the world to spend time on the island, step into its spirit, and work with local artisans to create pieces that reflect the island. Dutch designer Ineke Hans has reinterpreted the classic settle (a wooden sofa often used for naps between household chores) as the spindle chaise longue. French-Canadian designer Elaine Fortin’s Punto Chair is made from the “knees” (natural curves of the base) of juniper trees that serve as the structural ribs of a punt boat. Scalloped details appear frequently, reminiscent of hand-hewn shingles.
Defining all the elements is a meaningful juxtaposition. “Merchant’s houses had furniture and furnishings brought over from England. They were ‘fancy’ compared to the simple things that local people made for practical use in their saltbox houses. ” says Ernst Heupel, the Toronto-based design strategist for the inn. Islanders often imitated details they saw in European works and later catalogues, he added. “Whether rustic or fancy, these items brought life to us during the colder months, when locals were shorebound and had time to make and repair boats, homes, furniture, and textiles. I blew it.”
For visitors, the new work has become a symbol of both the inn and the island, stimulating demand. Wallpaper is also a symbol of the area. “In our house, we might have 15 layers of wallpaper on one wall,” explains Rosemary Burke, a lifelong Fogo Island resident. “It kept the wind out of the cracks, so not a single piece came off. You started with newspaper and kept going.”
Christopher Horwood/Christopher Farcross.
Michal Silver (right) of Christopher Farr Cloth reviews pattern sketches with textile designer Donna Wilson.
In this spirit, Heupel collaborated with London-based textile studio Christopher Farr Cloth to draw on patterns created when the inn opened nearly a decade ago, from a twist on toile de Jouy to a graphic fish silhouette. We’ve launched a collection of inspired fabrics and wallpapers.
Christopher Horwood/Courtesy of Christopher Farcross
The island atmosphere of Christopher Far Cross.
Christopher Horwood/Courtesy of Christopher Farcross
“We Sailed Away” by Christopher Farr Cross.
Burke is one of more than a dozen residents who serve as community hosts and shuttle drivers, teaching guests about the island’s history, culture and geography. Other guests scavenge berries for use in the inn’s kitchen, further demonstrating the genius of Cobb’s model, turning locals and tourists alike into stakeholders. Considering geography, focusing on ripple effects is an all-too-simplified metaphor. Consider that after the inn opened, Christopher Farr and his director of creatives, Michal Silver, responded to a request for end credits scraps for use by local quilters.
Despite the number of skilled sewers, making hundreds of bedspreads for the inn was a major undertaking, and over time the workshop sought to obtain more design-oriented leftover materials. “We obviously said yes,” Silver says. “But when we were sorting out the logistics, the Fogo Island team suggested we just come to the island. ‘We’ll see when we get here,'” they said. And so we did. I fell in love with this story and Gita’s commitment to building a community. ”
With a significant investment, she and Executive Vice President Gary Searle last year challenged several partners to create quilt designs using their fabrics for display at Nantucket by Design. Among the works submitted was Janet’s Reflection of Her Harbor in Langdon, which depicts the mirror effect of a traditional punt boat in calm, glassy water.
The multicolored stripes of flowers represent the flowers that burst through the seams of ships sitting on the shore after the collapse of the fishing industry. Now reproduced and sold by quilters in the workshop, it is one of many symbols of an enduring identity rooted in generational skill and resilience. The cast line returns something beautiful.
Shop Christopher Farr Cloth Fogo Island Collection
Ellen McGauley is VERANDA’s Editor-in-Chief, developing and writing about design, decorative arts, travel, gardens, and anything that illuminates the soul of the home. Follow @ellenmcgauley on Instagram.
