Munder-Skiles is deeply anchored in the principles of research, curation, artisanal craftsmanship and a commitment to sustainability. Each chair, table, bench and chaise is carefully drawn, crafted and finished with expert care and attention to detail.
We prioritize expertise, whether it’s our in-house knowledge or that of our partners. It’s our deep understanding of materials and techniques that allows us to achieve exceptional levels of beauty and quality in our offerings. Our production materials encompass teak, painted mahogany, stainless steel, aluminum, rattan, bronzed brass, and punched metal.
Beautiful homes and gardens often reflect interests and tastes developed through lives well-lived and well-travelled. From rigorously minimal terraces to lushly planted garden rooms, our styles accommodate the kind of unique combination of silhouettes, scale, and materials that are hallmarks of memorable spaces.
Engineering and craft
We consistently uphold the highest standards of excellence by nurturing long-term relationships with dedicated and highly skilled craftspeople. Our furniture seamlessly blends advanced engineering with the artistry of a craftsman, delivering a product that embodies the handcrafted feel while maintaining the necessary durability for outdoor living.
Details make the product
In all of our materials, craft and quality are our hallmarks. Things like hand-done joinery and finishing; 360-degree welds; plasma-cut bronze hardware; hand-painted finishes with top-performing paints; shadow-lines for greater visual interest; carefully-cured, FSC-certified teak; and indestructible Delrin feet that make for easy mobility.
A good investment
Our furniture is an investment – it is neither precious nor disposable. We continually test how our pieces function and stand up to the elements in our outdoor showroom at our Garrison, New York Headquarters. There, clients can view how different materials patina over time, and can see how beautiful a 15-year-old teak bench can look after a simple (but all-important) annual brush cleaning.
Ergonomics and comfort
Rather than overwhelm the design with thick cushions, Munder-Skiles invests in building great frames – totally ergonomic, or with slants, curves or contours critical to the way a piece sits. The right cant and weight distribution – with shapes and curves that relax the spine so that the body can rest – provides inherent comfort that minimizes the need for cushions.
We adopt a considerate, solution-driven methodology in our work to bring imaginative concepts for outdoor living to life.
Solutions and flexibility
Our unique chair and bench styles are often in mixed materials, for both aesthetic and practical purposes. Our endless flexibility in table options and configurations means your design vision is not constrained by a static furniture offering – just the opposite: you provide the space; Munder-Skiles can provide the solution.
Customizing
We offer an unmatched range of furniture with a variety of options such as size, pattern, construction and finishing that provide an expanded opportunity for professionals to customize furniture to specific project requirements. For larger projects, custom designs can be discussed with our sales reps.
The Exterior Decorator™
Mr. Danzer works on-site to provide exterior design services to trade professionals and homeowners. Through his experience and research, he has a broad knowledge of the outdoor furnishings marketplace and can help identify the best solutions for a particular project, sometimes including Munder-Skiles furniture, sometimes not.
Perhaps no person has thought more deeply about extending good design to the outside of the home than John Danzer.”
Over 30 years ago, John became an avid collector and researcher of garden furniture while living in London. So much so that he abandoned his finance job and gave his first lecture on Garden Furniture Design History at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The designs he discovered and researched became the foundation of his company, Munder-Skiles.
John and Munder-Skiles have advised, developed designs and made reproductions for many of America’s finest cultural institutions including Dumbarton Oaks, The Mount, Historic Hudson Valley, Monticello and more recently in England at The American Museum and Gardens in Bath. In 2022, John and Munder-Skiles were honoured with the Arthur Ross Award for Artisanship and Craftsmanship.
John has been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and has lectured at the Garden Museum in London, Cooper-Hewitt, New York Botanical Garden, and the Parrish Art Museum. Through Munder-Skiles, John helps keep the tradition of unique garden furniture alive, and the pieces created serve to enrich the design dialogue in both interior and exterior spaces.
John lives in Madrid with his husband Chip Allemann now president of Munder Skiles. They are patrons of the Vicente Todolí Citrus Foundation and the native plant gardens of L’Albarda foundation. To keep learning about the landscape design, John is co-chair of the Mediterranean Garden Society for the Costa Blanca, Spain region.
