Meet&CoHIGH POINT — When Rowe Furniture debuted the Gondola sofa in 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States, Mid-Century Modern design was in its heyday.
Fast forward 60 years, and the Mid-Century Modern design aesthetic still has a loyal following, even as do many other furniture manufacturers from the era who introduced iconic furniture designs during what many describe as a “golden era” for all things home.
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Today, Rowe’s Gondola sofa is highly sought after, celebrated for its unique features and routinely commanding prices in the $7,000 to $9,000 range in the vintage marketplace depending on condition.
With a nod to Gondola’s continued popularity among design enthusiasts, the company has announced that it will celebrate its 80th anniversary in business with the release of a limited Anniversary Edition of Gondola at High Point Market. For the limited edition, only 25 Gondola sofas will be available, each individually numbered and signed by the craftspeople in Virginia who work on each piece.
The 25 sofas will be offered in two curated textile compositions —— the Atelier composition and the Archive composition, each expressing a different perspective on the Gondola’s history, said officials.
The sofa will not be put back into regular production, according to officials, underscoring the commitment to maintaining Gondola’s iconic status and quality of construction.
“The Gondola has become an important part of Rowe’s history, and it’s been rewarding to see the appreciation it has developed in the vintage community,” said Bobby Robinson, president of Rowe Furniture. “For our 80th anniversary, we wanted to honor that history thoughtfully. We’re making just 25, and each one will have its own provenance.”
The anniversary Gondola retains the silhouette of the original while reinterpreting its exposed wood frame in American walnut, locally milled in High Point to Rowe’s specifications and individually hand-finished, officials noted.
“We wanted the textile to have enough dimension to hold its own against such a strong silhouette without competing with it,” said Laura Mabe, vice president of creative.
Creating provenance, honoring original
For the anniversary production, Rowe is relying on some of the company’s “finest and most tenured craftspeople” to produce the 2026 Gondola, officials said, creating a direct connection between each sofa and the people who build it. Each piece will carry a vintage-inspired deck label featuring Rowe’s 1960s logo and the designation “80th Anniversary Edition.”
The craftsmen who build each Gondola will sign its label, and every sofa will be individually numbered from 01 through 25 and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. The details allow Rowe to establish clear provenance for the anniversary pieces while deliberately distinguishing them from surviving vintage originals.
“We have tremendous respect for the people who discovered these pieces, restored them and kept the Gondola relevant decades after it was first made,” Robinson said. “An original Gondola should always remain an original. The anniversary piece needed to honor that history while being unmistakably its own.”
Founded in 1946, Rowe Furniture is an American upholstery manufacturer in Elliston, Va.
