Jules Heumann - Metropolitan Furniture Imported from San Francisco  

Do Jules Heumann's designs turn up a lot in San Francisco? because they sure don't show up where I live, except for the leather and chrome settee up top, which I happened upon years ago.

And is this the same Jules Heumann who designed and built his own fiberglass car?:
http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/lostcars/lost-car-the-jules-heumann-s...

Metropolitan furniture was founded by Louis Abrams, who was from Russia, in 1905. The company was bought by Steelcase in 1987. And in 2008, Steelcase shut down the Bay Area factory and re-distributed production to other factories.
http://www.reimaginerpe.org/node/1732

Brian Kane graduated from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design. He worked for several New York City design studios and spent a year in Milan, Italy. After returning to the U.S., he worked in New York for Atelier International (A.I.), and joined Metropolitan Furniture Corporation (Metro) in January 1977.
Less than three years later, he became one of four partners assuming ownership of the company and took on the responsibilities of Vice President of Design and Product Development. In 1987, Metropolitan was acquired by Steelcase. For the next two years, Kane maintained his position as Vice President and was responsible for all aspects of Metro's design, including products, showrooms and graphics.
http://www.coalesse.com/about/designers/brian-kane/

Here is a design patent for an extensible sofa/bed which dates Jules Heumann's involvement with Metropolitan to no later than 1958.
https://www.google.com/patents/US2997724
And the California Modern exhibitions show he was still designing for the company in 1972.

Another patent that dates Jules Heumann's continuity to 1977:
https://www.google.com/patents/US4077666

Jules "J" Heumann is my great-uncle - he's the brother of my Grandfather Syl. The two of them ran Metropolitan for many years. J is still around and I'm sure would be thrilled to learn that there's interest in Metro and his design work - if you have any questions for him that you want me to pass along, post them here!

Well, we would love to see his old drawings, catalogs, etc. It seems he designed a lot of furniture, but I feel certain most of it that turns up goes unappreciated as nice, generic Mid Century Modern, because it is not recognize as part of his body of work.
I found a few more Jules Heumann pieces and a bio (which makes it pretty certain that is Jules' car up above):

Here is the text of his bio:
JULES M. HEUMANN, a native San Franciscan, was born into a furniture manufacturing family. Jules studied architecture at the University of California, graduating in 1944, when he joined the United States Navy as an officer and served in the Pacific theater until the end of the war. Returning to California, he then joined his father in the family business and upon the passing of his father in 1949, with his brother, they took over the active ownership. Married, and father of two Native Daughters, he spends some of his spare time restoring classic cars. With his architectural background training and a keen interest and knowledge of the intricacies of manufacturing, Jules brings to his furniture designs a sense of scale and proportion which results in beauty and comfort. His "WEEKENDER", shown in this issue is being produced under franchise agreement in several countries. Currently he is designing several new groups using molded plywood, aluminum and plastic for the contract field

Thank you for this thread.

I apologize for digging up this old thread, but I am rather late to the party. I stumbled upon Leif Ericson's messages about Jules Heumann furniture and was hoping someone with some expertise could assist me. Leif, you asked if Jules Heumann's designs show up in San Francisco. I'm actually just outside of San Francisco, and planning to sell a few of his pieces (a sling sofa and a sling chair), but can find little info as to their history or value. I've attached a photo for reference. If anyone may have some insight, I'd appreciate any info.

-Joel

Nice sofa! 

Liveauctioneers.com shows about 20 sales of Metro pieces - here's a shot of six of them.  You can set up a free account with them and search all of their results.  There are a few sales on Chairish too (2nd photo), though none of the sling sofa or chairs.  Auction sales tend to represent the lower end of the price range, while sites like Chairish and 1stDibs, the high end.  

Thank you for the info...that's quite helpful! There seems to be a huge difference in pricing between the 2 sites. So it still leaves me a bit baffled as to their values (and a price point for selling them).

The Clars prices seem very low, especially for the Bay Area.  I'd think you could get around $1K for the sofa and $500 for the chair if you're willing to wait for the right buyer.