HK5corner: Then There Were Three

It’s about this time last year we received delivery and setup our two Boggs rocking chairs on the new front porch. After that first sit on the porch, it was pretty clear we were missing something. One could easily say a little table to hold items like a glass of water and bowl of berries an dried fruit for breakfast. What I realized is I wanted a third chair so the kids could sit out there together, and eventually they would each get a chair of their own chair when we hand them down one day. Last summer I reached out to amazing Shea Alexander and pulled the trigger on having a third chair built. We weren’t in a rush, so he started work on our chair and one other order for a chair in September he reached out that he was started production.

What I love about the Boggs design is how the laddered back is flat curved planks make it so comfortable to recline back in. One of the other pluses about Shea’s design, he added leather to bottom of two rocking rails. This smart add has limited the damage the chair can do to the wood floor of the porch, and makes for a smoother rock. Another great feature is the woven walnut bark used for seats of the chairs. The bark strips are wide, which makes the surface almost padded while you are sitting on it. Last year during our visit to Shea’s workshop in Virginia, I learned so much about the farming and milling of the bark. In April of last year I touched on the process in my post for the first two chairs.

In September last year I started posting progress shots of the third rocker. And in early October, i started a competition to pick the new animals for the new chair. The first two rockers each have two animals on them, chosen by each of the kids. We decided the snake rocker would go to Lochlan and the frog rocker will go to Paley eventually. For the this rocker, Allen got to choose the animal and it was not surprising she went with a cat. Shea went a little further than just a cat this time. Instead of placing the cat up on one of the back poles. He suggested placing the cat along the top of one of the rocker rails at the bottom of the chair. As an added twist, he carved a little mouse and placed it on top of the opposite rocking rail. He set them up so the cat is watching the mouse from a distance, waiting for its moment. The mouse is looking in the opposite direction for something to eat, unaware of the lurking cat. Allen was sold on the idea immediately.

I ran a comment competition from October till December last year, for people to suggest an animal for the other side of the chair. Shortly after new years I announced that the winning choice, but there were some great ideas. The snail was a closed second, but I was loving the idea of a sea otter. The most popular choice was a bear climbing up one of the back poles. Shea came up with another fun idea to place above the bear, a tree trunk hole. Shea painted the inside of the hole black and carved and applied tiny little bees to indicate they have built a beehive in the tree. We really love how much fun Shea had in creating this chair.

When we received shipment of the chair in February, opening it was reminder of when the first two chairs came. While the new chair is made of cherry just like the original two chairs, placing the three chairs side by side, it’s eye opening how fast the first two chairs aged in one year of no direct sunlight. As you can see in this photo of the three chairs together, the third chair is so bleached out. The first two chairs have been sitting out in shaded daylight since late March of 2025. In just one year it has turned dark red.

We are very lucky to have these chairs. And they are a great addition to the house. Now I just need to increase seating inside the house! Sitting out on the front porch has really been my number one addition to my daily routine. Before COVID in 2020, we had this little tiny front porch at the front door of our house. When designing the house for the remodel,  I knew the front porch was necessary, because I ended up moving a adirondack love seat we bought many moons ago, to that tiny porch. Fast forward to today, the rockers are the perfect start to this new living space. What is next, I want to live with what we have for now and reach out to the artist we bought the small side table from about possibly buying a similar table later this year. What about the winner of the competition? That is coming in my next post. Stay tuned.