Inspired in part by a craft-filled family home, Chessa founded Twenty One Tonnes
Founder Chessa Osburn's family cottage recently graced the cover of the Sep/Oct 2024 issue of Cottage Life Magazine, and the article, written by Christina Frangou, explains why the unusual home played a role in Chessa's love of craft and design. Photography by Kamil Bialous.
In the early 1970s Chessa's grandparents commissioned the seaside cabin as "a getaway to escape Vancouver." They hired a young architect who would end up marrying their daughter.
LARGE BONNET SHADE sits on a floor lamp
The young architect, Mark Osburn - Chessa's father, designed the building as a simple one-bedroom home since the couple's children were grown. But in spite of its modest footprint, the place ended up becoming a summer home to four generations of family.
Chessa's grandmother (who was born and raised in El Salvador where she was surrounded by Central American ceramic and textile traditions) collected a wide range of craft from around the world. She filled the sea-side home with these pieces - ceramic dinnerware from Tonala, Mexico, batik from Indonesia, carvings and instruments from East Africa, and pots from Central America.
Inspired in part by the craft-filled environment her grandmother created, Chessa founded Twenty One Tonnes, a company that works with traditional artisans to produce light fixtures, baskets, and textiles.
Chessa has added several Twenty One Tonnes pieces to the cabin: on the bedside table a ceramic 'duende' lamp glows, its palm shade handmade by artisans in southern Mexico; over the dining table hangs a woven pendant light from a women's organization in northern Ghana; in the windows float transparent screens woven from agave fibers by a social enterprise in Oaxaca.
On the wall hangs a framed coffee sack from what was once the family's coffee farm (now a charitable organization in El Salvador).
"There is a continuity here that stretches through generations," says Chessa. Everyone has made their mark."
Find the full article in the Sep/Oct 2024 issue of Cottage Life Magazine.
