22
HAPPENINGS
Just as Roll & Hill has collaborated with independent
designers to create its unique lighting
collection, so, too, is it partnering with a number
of interior, fashion, and industrial designers for its
furniture collection. The initial offering of eight
wood chairs, tables and dressers has expanded to
twelve pieces by furniture and product designers
Karl Zahn, Jason Miller, and Campagna, with more
to come from other notable names, such as Jenna
Lyons.
From a creative standpoint, Miller says, the same
ethos that applies to the lighting brand applies to
the furniture. “We’re just trying to make good contemporary
designs that will appeal to Americans,”
he says. “When I started Roll & Hill eleven years
ago, that was actually a novelty. Most of the things
that were considered good contemporary design
were European or had an international focus.
There was this idea that Americans didn’t get it
and they had to be taught how to like it. My premise
was different; it was maybe they don’t need to
be taught anything, maybe they just need to be
given different options.”
Like the lighting, the furniture pieces are available
online or through one of the 100 independent
stores Roll & Hill is in around the world. The furniture
is handmade in Grand Rapids, Mich., while the
lighting continues to be made in Brooklyn at the
Sunset Park studio. It’s the third studio the company
moved to, after outgrowing the previous two.
“My entire career started in Brooklyn,” says Miller,
who was born in Connecticut. “I’ve been here for
twenty-five years.”
This past year has been the most trying, though.
The deal with Alexis Manufacturing went through
in February 2020, right before the pandemic
shook so many small businesses, including Roll
& Hill. “We made it through,” he says. “That’s the
important thing.” But, with hardly any new hotels,
restaurants, or office buildings — Roll & Hill’s base
clients — being built, a large part of the company’s
operations evaporated. Focusing on the new range
has been a source of hope. “We’re really just in
the beginning phase,” he says. "For me, the most
exciting thing is to see that grow.”
Lexington Table in hard maple. Photo courtesy of Roll & Hill.
Roll & Hill founder Jason Miller. Photo by Jeffrey Schad.
Lafayette Bedside Table in black walnut.
Photo courtesy of Roll & Hill.