DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — David Hiney is no furniture expert. He owns his own insurance company in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, so he knows all about insurance. But he admits, not much about furniture.
However, he knows what he likes in his furniture.
"I know it's the Mid-century look of it, kind of clean?" he said admiring his beautiful lawn chair slash chaise lounge chair. The chair has a smooth wooden frame, and has woven pieces of leather for its seat and back. "Even the straps are in wonderful shape."
I'm not going to lie, the chair is a beautiful one. I asked Hiney if he ever thought a piece of furniture could bring him so much joy. To that, he said, 'no.'
It's been an interesting week for the David and his wife Teri. The chair has kept them busy. They were on national TV, Antiques Roadshow just last Saturday.
"She said, 'do you know the roadshow's coming to Fargo?' and I said, do you want to go, and she said 'let's go and see what that's all about,'" David said.
And the folks at the roadshow, appraiser and all were all about the chair that David had brought in.
He and the chair go way back. He said he bought it from a rummage sale back in 1982.
"We were saying goodbye to our neighbor, they were moving," David said. "So they were having a rummage sale at the time, [and I asked] 'what do you guys want for the chair over there?'" He explained his neighbors quoted him a very special price of $40. David said he recalls thinking $40 was a bit pricey.
"Yes! For a lawn chair," he said. "I was coming out of college, I didn't have 40 cents!"
Turns out, it was a good thing that Mr. Hiney decided to still go for the $40 chair. At Saturday's Antiques Roadshow filming, the Hiney's found out that the bargain chair was worth at least $25,000.
"He said you only find these in fine arts museums," Hiney said. He explained that he's still in disbelief.
Knowing the value of the chair now, it's no longer just a chair. It's more like a throne. The Hiney's moved it out from its basement and displayed it in their "great room."
If anything, this goes to show it pays off to trust your gut. Or your butt, in this case.
"It was a once in a lifetime thing to come across it," David said.
"I think it was the right time and the right place," Teri added.
Both David and Teri said they're going to sit on the chair [and the thought] for a while before making a decision. She said sell it, he said no. They're currently entertaining the idea of donating it to a museum but haven't made up their minds yet.
They said their episode of the Antiques Roadshow will run some time in 2020.