A new series of striking stone mantels has been chiseled from a collaboration between design innovator Holly Hunt, founder of Chicago-based interior design studioHouse of Hunt, and celebrated stone purveyor Marmi.
Ms. Hunt worked collaboratively with the Marmi team to create the customizable fireplace surrounds,Editions No. 1, Mantels, selecting the company’s most interesting stones and employing her talent for combining the classic and modern.
“We wanted to offer something new in the hearth space,” Ms. Hunt said. “We envision this collection in homes where a fireplace can be a focal point in the space.”
Life's work
Ms. Hunt is well-versed in product design, having opened her first eponymous home furnishings showroom in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart in 1983, forever changing the way furniture and other items were displayed – in a gallery setting with a wide mix of design styles and artisans.
Over the decades, Ms. Hunt began designing her own furniture, lighting and textiles while expandingHOLLY HUNTshowrooms internationally before selling the company to Knoll in 2014.
“I wasn’t sure what the next chapter of my career would look like exactly, though I knew it would continue to be in the creative arena,” Ms. Hunt said. “I found my passion and life’s work in the design world, so it’s difficult for me to imagine doing anything outside of this industry.”
Starting House of Hunt in 2020 was a “natural evolution” for the design veteran, applying her experience to create sophisticated, luxurious interiors.
“The House of Hunt philosophy combines a passion for design and artistry, an understanding of composition and construction, and an obsession with refinement and detail,” Ms. Hunt said.
“Our goal is to create a sense of modern living that is relevant and timeless, where shape, materials, precision and scale take center stage.”
Ms. Hunt found a kindred spirit inMarmipresident Magd Riad, who she met in 2009. The two became friends and collaborators, with Marmi supplying stone for various HOLLY HUNT projects.
It was only natural that the two would eventually work on a joint project that is a modern take on classic stones.
On fire
Marmi has a design showroom in Atlanta, Georgia, though its parent company, Marmonil, was founded over 50 years ago in Cairo, Egypt.
Harvesting impeccable natural stone slabs from widespread quarries and utilizing master craftsmen, Marmi’s marble, granite and limestone is found in prestigious architecture and design projects all over the world.
Its ownEditionscollections, which will be crafted with a variety of partners, will put the focus on design that showcases the beautiful features of its stone, which the inauguralEditions No. 1,Mantelswith Ms. Hunt captures perfectly.
“Our goal was to extract the most stunning design elements from a solid block of stone in order to create boldly shaped, finely detailed mantels that could serve as the focal point in one’s home,” Ms. Hunt said.
“Together, we worked with my former colleague and architect, Neil Zuleta, and top Italian artisans to produce a collection of 12 customizable, made-to-order designs engineered from specially selected and precisely cut blocks of stone with bronzed metal accents,” she said.
The stones selected for the collection were chosen not only for being beautiful, but for having interesting colors and patterns and being less-frequently used. They also had to have the right mass and strength for the designs and pair well with metals.
The resulting cut and carved mantels can be customized by clients with a variety of stone and metal options, each piece one-of-a-kind.
“The hearths not only serve as distinctive centerpieces within a space, but also as sculptural art,” Ms. Hunt said.
“It was perfectly in my design aesthetic, in that House of Hunt is all about classic proportions and modern, yet timeless, design,” she said of the collaboration with Marmi.
And Ms. Hunt is not likely to stop creating new pieces any time soon.
“Product design will always be a part of my DNA, and that will continue with House of Hunt,” she said.