Set of Six Charles & Ray Eames La Fonda Arm Chairs for Herman Miller

Designed in 1961 by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, the La Fonda Chair grew out of one of the great collaborations of American mid-century design. Alexander Girard was creating the complete interior environment for La Fonda del Sol, the celebrated restaurant in New York’s Time-Life Building, and turned to his friends Charles and Ray Eames to develop seating specifically for the space.

Girard had a very particular requirement: he wanted the backs of the dining chairs to remain below the height of the restaurant’s tables, preserving uninterrupted sightlines across his colorful interior. In response, Charles and Ray Eames developed a new, lower-profile fiberglass shell based on the principles of their earlier molded fiberglass seating. The resulting La Fonda shell is broader and more compact than the familiar Eames armchair, with a beautifully continuous form that wraps around the sitter.

The Eames also designed a completely new base for the project. Now known as the La Fonda base, its distinctive four-pronged cast-aluminum pedestal uses paired symmetrical elements to achieve strength with remarkably little visual weight. The polished aluminum base gives the chair an almost floating appearance and remains one of the most recognizable pedestal designs created by the Eames Office.

This exceptional set of six vintage La Fonda Arm Chairs has been newly upholstered in a wonderfully bold Alexander Girard checkered textile, pairing two closely connected chapters of Herman Miller design history. The vivid yellow and magenta geometric pattern is particularly appropriate for the La Fonda form. As director of Herman Miller’s Textile Division, Girard became known for introducing expressive color, pattern and folk-art influences into American modernism, ultimately creating hundreds of textiles for the company many of which are still in production.

The fabric captures that sensibility beautifully. Its small-scale checkerboard pattern becomes almost kinetic as it follows the compound curves of the fiberglass shells, while the brilliant warm colors contrast dramatically with the off-white (light greige) exterior shells and polished aluminum bases. The combination feels unmistakably Girard: bright, graphic, playful and sophisticated. It is especially fitting on the La Fonda Chair, a design whose very existence resulted from the friendship and creative collaboration between Girard and the Eameses.

These are the desirable La Fonda armchair configuration, with the low, wraparound shell providing integrated arm support while maintaining the compact profile Girard originally requested for the restaurant. Each chair rests on the classic four-star La Fonda pedestal base.

All six chairs are being offered together as a set. Only three of the six are shown in the current photographs while restoration of the remaining chairs is being completed. The shock mounts are being replaced as needed, and the completed chairs will have restored shock mounts in good working order. Combined with the fresh Alexander Girard upholstery, the set is ready for another generation of use while retaining the essential character of the original Herman Miller design.

More than simply a set of vintage Eames dining chairs, these La Fonda chairs represent a fascinating moment when Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard and Herman Miller worked together at the height of American postwar modernism. The newly upholstered Girard textile makes that connection particularly compelling, bringing Girard’s exuberant approach to color and pattern back together with the chair the Eameses originally created for his extraordinary restaurant interior.

Designer: Charles & Ray Eames
Manufacturer: Herman Miller
Model: La Fonda Arm Chair
Design Date: 1961
Quantity: Set of 6
Shell: Molded fiberglass armchair shell
Base: Classic four-star cast-aluminum La Fonda pedestal base
Upholstery: Newly upholstered in Alexander Girard checkered fabric
Restoration: Shock mounts replaced/restored and in good working order
Origin: United States
Period: Mid-Century Modern

Dimensions: 24.5" D x 25" W x 30" H - Seat H: 19"