The living room also has several Perennian pieces as well – a three-part coffee table set and two end tables. In the end, my aunt took the dining room set to a new house she bought, so this problem went away on it’s own, fortunately. Interestingly, the fact that this furniture wasn’t worth “a lot” became a point of contention – my grandmother and aunt insisted they were worth more than an appraiser said. Much nicer and higher quality than vintage Acclaim and Broyhill Brasilia, for instance. It’s also very nice, sturdy, high quality, mostly solid wood furniture, which is typical of Heritage. In spite of the subdued looks, it is very mid-century. Perennian furniture represented a bridge between very contemporary mid-century furniture designs from makers like Knoll (who produced Eames, Saarien, Noguchi and others) and the more traditional furniture that Heritage had been known for previously (and is known for today.) The furniture featured subdued but modern lines and made extensive use of woods such as walnut, pecan, and wormy chestnut.

Perennian isn’t a very “hot” vintage mid-century item, precisely because it wasn’t very avant-garde for its time and therefore stand out as must-have mid-century for collectors today. Heritage today is known as Drexel Heritage (a combination made in the late 1950s, though for a time they were still marketed separately.) In the living room and dining room spaces, they purchased higher end Heritage furniture, from a collection called Perennian. They shied away from “traditional” furniture and lines. My grandparents were no slouches when it came to purchasing durable goods for the house – they saved up and purchased things that were nice, and generally contemporary for their time.

Drexel furniture old catalogs