Maker’s Spotlight – Frank Pollaro

Frank Pollaro has been making custom wood furniture for over three decades. Just as impressive is that Pollaro has amassed perhaps the largest stockpile of rare and exotic wood in the world. All of these pieces are locked down at Pollaro’s 60,000-square-foot workshop in Hillside, New Jersey.

Inside the workshop filled with luxury lumber, more than one million-square-feet of veneer from 150 wood species are stored; these include hundreds of thousands of square feet of exotic boards, a large number of tractor-trailer-sized slabs, and 400-year-old oak piles found in a Venetian lagoon.

Pollaro has always been captivated by architecture and form; he recalls visiting a demolition site with his father, a contractor, at the age of five. He was distraught that ‘something that beautiful’ would soon be wrecked; Even before his teenage years, Pollaro owned a wood lathe and started creating. In school, the budding craftsman got a job working for a cabinetmaker, and soon thereafter, he began working on a reproduction of a cabinet by the master Art Decor furniture designer, Emile-Jacques Rluhlmann. (Courtesy of Boat International)

Pollaro founded his namesake company in 1988 at the age of 21, and he and his team work with a singular purpose in mind, “Our goal is to create furniture that exceeds every expectation, in every way. I’m here to deliver a product that you can’t buy from anyone else, anywhere else in the world.” (Courtesy of Galerie Magazine)

Today, Pollaro is considered to be one of the finest furniture makers in the world. Pollaro does not believe in outsourcing; as such, he has a full machine shop, a metal shop, and polishing, gilding, and upholstery shops. The machinery itself is “old school”… and each piece has its original motor. For his part, Pollaro loves the nostalgia associated with these old machines. At the heart is an American spirit that never grows old!

The studio is a work of art itself… the remarkable collection of exotic, special wood sample, at times hundreds of years old with special stories and provenance, is shown in a minimalist warehouse with black walls and 30-foot-tall ceilings. As such, clients can scrutinize each and select the one that calls to them. Interestingly, this idea came to Pollaro following a visit to a stone showroom in Northern Italy where marble slabs are presented in a similar fashion.

Pollaro counts Larry Ellison, David Geffen, and Robert De Niro among his clients. However, a piece for one famous client resulted in a very special collaboration. Initially, Pollaro met Brad Pitt in France when he was delivering a desk that the star had commissioned. With a shared passion for art and design, the two partnered up. According to Pollaro, “I guide the execution. I liberate his thoughts by transforming those designs into three-dimensional objects. The designs are 100 percent Brad Pitt.” (Courtesy of New Jersey Monthly)

Additionally, Pollaro has become a prominent craftsperson in the luxury superyacht market. Specifically, Larry Ellison tagged Pollaro to design and build a 94 piece collection for his 290 foot yacht, Mushahi. The process of building for yachts is a process that requires a lot of care and detail. As these ship makers are building the highest quality products, the furnishings follow suit.

Perfectly explained by Pollaro, “One Macassar ebony desk, for example, features 10 drawers each with 50 moving parts. Yachts rock. Things need to be tied down, the finishes have to be perfect,” he laughs. “You don’t want doors and drawers flying open at sea. The level of the final finish has to be at the absolute peak because the shipbuilders are making the highest quality object on the face of the earth. Part of working on yachts is over-designing things so there is no chance of failure, ever. They take the quality level to a completely different place in terms of mechanical integrity.” (Courtesy of Boat International)

Suzanne and Frank have been working together since 2005 when Frank made incredible ebony sideboards that we designed with over 1,700 ebony and faux ivory pieces as a decorative band. “Frank is the very best at interpreting design intent as he can work across all of the materials inclusive of bronze to create meticulous beauty.”

Next we worked together on a Dining Room Suite of furniture with head chairs, a spectacular table and side chairs. Again, inlay work was magic and perfection in craft still shines twenty-five years later. She knew then that by collaborating with Pollaro we would be able to design and execute museum-quality collectible furniture of the future, and this has since proven true as their work together is truly timeless.

For more inspiration visit Pollaro