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The Dalai Lama Sat Here, And You Could Too When You Visit Ludwig Interiors

By Patty Wetli | December 17, 2014 5:57am
 Ludwig Interiors sure knows how to create an eye-catching window display.
Ludwig Interiors sure knows how to create an eye-catching window display.
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DNAinfo/Patty Wetli

LINCOLN SQUARE — It goes without saying that Ludwig Interiors, maker of custom draperies since 1963, knows a thing or two about creating eye-catching window displays.

But it's not the shop's hand-sewn curtains or remote-controlled blinds that cause pedestrians to stop in their tracks and press their faces up to the storefront's glass.

It's the Dalai Lama chair.

Or rather it's the head-turning "does that say what I think it says" sign placed in the shop's window next to said piece of furniture: "The Dalai Lama sat in this Corbu-type Italian lounge chair." As proof of the claim, a framed photo of Tenzin Gyatso perched atop the lounger, barefoot and cross-legged, completes the tableau.

It's a conversation starter, to be sure, though the story of how Cornel Erdbeer, owner of the shop, came to possess the item is fairly prosaic given the chair's famous occupant.

Erdbeer, a known dealer in vintage mid-century furnishings, was simply offered the caramel-colored chair by the rental company that loaned the piece out for one of the Dalai Lama's appearances during a 2011 visit to Chicago.

"It's an icon of modern design," Erdbeer said of Le Corbusier's instantly recognizable cube-like "Grand Confort" chair.

He points to distinctive markings on the leather, visible in the photo of the Dalai Lama, as proof that the Tibetan holy man did indeed occupy the chair.

For a mere $4,000, a buyer can own not only the Dalai Lama model but also its mate.

Though Erdbeer has yet to have any takers on the piece, if the chair lures a curiosity seeker or two into the store, it will have done its job.

Long a contractor working out of the Merchandise Mart — hired for drapery installations at the homes of the likes of Frank Thomas, Michael Jordan and the owner of Jimmy John's — Ludwig Interiors has of late increased its efforts to serve the people of Lincoln Square.

As he strolls around the neighborhood while walking his dog, "I see huge windows and no drapes," Erdbeer said.

Opportunity lies in the positioning of the store as a purveyor of affordable luxury in the form of drapes — which he said can insulate for light, sound and warmth — shades and bedding, he said.

"I get walk-ins every day, and that wasn't the case before," Erdbeer said. "It usually starts with the wife, doing one room or two."

For the DIY crowd, Erdbeer has created an e-commerce site packed with options for items like rods, brackets and finials, and he's also working on a series of instructional videos that demonstrate proper curtain-hanging technique.

"One of the rules my dad taught me is 'Try to keep your chips in many baskets,'" Erdbeer said of the shop's evolution.

An ability to change with the times is one reason Ludwig Interiors is still standing, more than 100 years after a version of the company got its start in Germany outfitting horse-drawn carriages with saddles for the stallions and upholstered bench seats for the human occupants.

Ludwig Erdbeer, Cornel's father, moved to Chicago in the 1960s and continued the family tradition, setting up shop first on Southport and then moving to 4634 N. Lincoln Ave., which Ludwig's has called home since 1978.

"I kind of was born and raised in an upholstery shop," said Cornel, the first in his family's line of eldest-born sons to not bear the name Ludwig, his immigrant parents thinking "it would be too tough to grow up in America as Ludwig."

As a youngster, Cornel learned the upholstery trade at his father's side, accompanying the elder Erdbeer on visits to clients that included McDonald's headquarters.

Charged with stripping chairs to prepare them for re-covering, Erdbeer said the best part was coming across spare change caught in the fabric.

"Dad later said he stuffed the change so I'd work faster," Erdbeer recalled.

Despite his early introduction to the business, taking over the shop wasn't necessarily a foregone conclusion for Erdbeer.

"Part of me thought it was the greatest," he said, "and part of me wanted to get away."

The former instinct eventually won out, and it's a decision Erdbeer doesn't regret.

"Every day is different, every client is different," he said.

Projects can range from reupholstering and restuffing a set of dining room chairs to supplying replica hardware for historic restorations to installing a home theater curtain with fiber optics woven into the fabric.

"I've been in homes where I walk in the basement and there's a full hockey rink," Erdbeer said.

"I'm kind of giddy at times," he said of some of the more palatial estates he's decorated. "I have to say to myself, 'Business face.'"

One residence that failed to impress: the White House.

Erdbeer related his experience of touring the executive mansion during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.

"I walked up to the drapery hardware — I couldn't help myself. It was cheap," he said. "I turned around and there was this huge guard who told me, 'Get back with the group.'"

Erdbeer laughed at the recollection.

"I went to the White House and I looked at the window treatments," he said. "But you want to see."

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