Adirondack chair
The Adirondack chair is an outdoor lounge chair with wide armrests, a tall slatted back, and a seat that is higher in the front than the back. Its name references the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. The chair was invented by Thomas Lee between 1900 and 1903 in Westport, New York which is located in Adirondack Park, but the chair was patented by his friend Harry C. Bunnell, who added some minor adaptations to make it more suitable for convalescents.
Also recorded as Adirondack chairs · Cape Cod chair · Catskill chair · Comstock chair
Adirondack chair
Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Adirondack chair
- Field
- chair
- Related practice
- wood · plastic
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Documentary summary
The Adirondack chair is an outdoor lounge chair with wide armrests, a tall slatted back, and a seat that is higher in the front than the back. Its name references the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. The chair was invented by Thomas Lee between 1900 and 1903 in Westport, New York which is located in Adirondack Park, but the chair was patented by his friend Harry C. Bunnell, who added some minor adaptations to make it more suitable for convalescents.
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wikidata · Q357530 · wikipedia · Adirondack chair
In this article
Overview
Overview
The chairs were popularized in nearby tuberculosis sanatoriums, where they were favored for the way the armrests helped open up the sitter's chest. The Lee–Bunnell chair, however, had a single plank for the chair back; it was not until 1938 that the fan-shaped back with slats was patented by Irving Wolpin. Adirondack chairs are now often made by injection molding and can take any form. Since the 1980s, they are generally marketed in Canada as "Muskoka chairs", although the design did not originate in Muskoka.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Adirondack chair • Designer — Thomas Lee and Harry C. Bunnell • Materials — Wood (original) wood, plastic, metal (contemporary)
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — A modern curved back example in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada • Illustration — Red chair with foot rest • Illustration — Durable cedar and orange plastic chairs in 20 cm of snow, Boise, Idaho • Illustration — At a picnic site • Illustration — Ornate 15 ft chair as tourist attraction, maintained with a 1 impgal of both primer and paint annually. North of Cloyne, Ontario, Canada
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
2001
Yoga in an Adirondack Chair (2001) is digitised and catalogued by Open Library.
2015
The Adirondack Chairs (2015) is digitised and catalogued by Open Library.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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