#AllCoopedUp with Jason Potter, Founder of DEN Los Angeles
My friend Jason Potter is the founder of DEN Los Angeles, a vintage furniture store based in East Hollywood. Jason has been dealing vintage furniture for 10 years through DEN and specializes in sourcing and restoring super special, high-end pieces. I reached out to Jason to furnish the outdoor spaces at 2200 Mountain Oak Drive, a spectacular 1920’s Moorish Revival with breathtaking city views. Of course, he selected the perfect pieces to complement the home’s architectural features, bringing it to next level goodness. Read on about the design and buying trends Jason’s observed this past year, and our shared philosophy of stewarding special homes and furniture. And stay tuned for a special collaboration between DEN and +COOP that we’ll be announcing in the next few weeks!
What is your profession and how has it changed this past year?
My company DEN Los Angeles specializes in high end vintage furniture that we either partially or fully restore, depending on what state it is in. Over the past year, we’ve been able to hone in on buying what we really like, based on the fact that a lot of people are at home and they are looking at their surroundings and reevaluating what they love and what they don't.
We’re finding that a lot of the people who are shopping for higher end stuff are buying those rare statement pieces that have a lot of design pedigree. This has made it very fun for me, because I’ve been able to take some risks and I’ve been able to buy higher end stuff, knowing that my clientele is looking for special pieces to bring into their home, as opposed to just something that’s going to fill a void until they find the next piece. Clients really are honing in on what they love, how they are going to use it, and how it's going to stay in their home for years, if not decades.
What’s one of the most memorable pieces from the last year that you found a home for?
We found a pair of Paul Laszlo chairs and spent a lot of money, time, and love restoring them. They are very rare, so this pair of chairs was priced at $20,000. We knew that it would take a while to find the right home for them, but luckily we sold them within a couple months. Not just the fact that they’re rare, but the fact that we were able to source them, fully restore them, and be involved in every aspect of it, was what made them so special. And that someone was able to see that and didn’t mind spending the money on them, knowing that they are special pieces.
What advice do you have for people when buying furniture for their home?
For any space, it’s important to find things that are all special, but are also timeless. You want to find statement pieces that don’t necessarily get married to any genre.
How did you decide what patio furniture to use at 2200 Mountain Oak Drive?
Mountain Oak is a beautiful house, so it’s really cool to be able to work in that space. I could see that the outside areas needed pieces that are lighter and would complement the space. Walter Lamb is the best vintage patio furniture because the pieces are super timeless and totally represent California modernism, so it makes sense to have them on a rooftop with incredible Los Angeles skyline views.
What design trends do you think became more prominent during the pandemic?
More and more I'm hearing that people are turning to vintage because a lot of contemporary and newer pieces just don't hold their value and the quality doesn't hold up to the prices that you pay. Whereas when they walk into DEN Los Angeles, they can see and feel the quality when they're sitting on and touching the fabrics and finishes that we have. There is more longevity in vintage designs, and it can stand the test of time.
The DEN store is in East Hollywood. What are your favorite things about the neighborhood?
I moved from Long Beach out of necessity, and I've really grown to love the neighborhood of East Hollywood. It's a little bit gritty, but at the same time, our neighborhood has come a long way in the past 6 years since we've been here. The best thing is that, for our biggest market (interior designers), we are centrally located. So they can send us a truck and it doesn't matter if the job site is on the west side or east side of LA.
Our go-to restaurant in East Hollywood is Found Oyster, which is 3 or 4 blocks east of us. It’s a little seafood place that is incredible. Down the street, there’s also an art gallery with revolving exhibits, and a leather goods store called Made Solid.
What neighborhood do you live in?
We’re in the process of buying a house right now, but currently we live right near Sunset Junction - less than a mile from the shop. This is definitely my neighborhood. I like that we can walk to work and it's not a big deal.
What’s your favorite room in your house?
I live in a small apartment currently, and we converted some of the rooms to make sense for our growing family, which is part of the reason why we’re moving. But right now, my favorite room is the living room, because it’s a space that I have been slowly developing. For a long time, we didn't have higher end pieces in our apartment, but recently I was able to bring home a swiss-made sectional by Desede, and that is the focal point in our living room, along with a couple other vintage pieces.
Are you noticing that people are more willing to splurge this year than in previous years?
Yes, there’s been a big shift in the market. Getting a high end Italian sofa imported will take 6 months to a year now, whereas we have ready-to-go vintage furniture. That’s the upside and downside to it - we are able to sell you what’s on the floor, but that’s the only one. That’s it. Which makes it special, but it also makes it a difficult business plan. I think people are willing to splurge, because the importance of people's surroundings is becoming more and more magnified as they're sitting at their homes and analyzing the pieces in their house.
I also know that people are moving around in ways they never have before. And once they start moving around, their rooms and their needs change. I think that classic architecture and vintage furniture go hand-in-hand. If you are in the market for one, you are probably in the market for the other as well.
I agree. And a lot of people who are buying these architecturally significant homes, it isn’t necessarily their first home, it might be their second or third. They’re collecting architecture like art. And why wouldn't they treat it as a piece of art, and put significant pieces in those homes.
I believe that if you find good vintage furniture, you become the steward of that piece for a certain period of time. Yes, you own it, but you also have a sense of respect for whoever used it before you, and maybe even an understanding that you’re not going to have it forever, and wonder who will be the next one to have it?
Yeah, you’re becoming part of the piece’s provenance. One of the biggest assets of my job is to take a beautiful piece of furniture that maybe was neglected, restore it, and then find a new home for it. I'm like another spoke in the wheel as far as the furniture’s life.
How can people best support DEN Los Angeles?
Whether they buy something or not, people coming into the shop is great. More than anything, we like sharing the story of our pieces. We also have a lot of smaller, lower price point items on our “smalls wall”. But just coming by, saying hi, and checking out the shop is helpful. Part of having a retail space is being able to share the stories of the furniture that passes through our hands, whether someone has the budget to buy it or not.