McKinnon and Harris Hosts Designer Retreat During Virginia’s Historic Garden Week

The retreat commenced on Wednesday, April 30, with a tour of the Branch Museum of Design followed by an intimate dinner set within the home and garden of McKinnon and Harris CEO and co-founder Will Massie. On Thursday, guests were granted behind-the-scenes access to the McKinnon and Harris workshop, where welders, sculptors, and sewists demonstrated the intricate processes behind the brand’s heirloom-quality aluminum furniture. Engineered, designed, and meticulously built to remain outdoors year-round, even in the most aggressive exterior environments, the live craftsmanship offered a compelling glimpse into the precision and artistry that define each piece.

The day continued with lunch at Upper Shirley Vineyards and an afternoon visit to the historic Westover Plantation, a National Historic Landmark widely regarded as one of America’s finest examples of Georgian architecture. Against the backdrop of the 18th-century mansion’s sweeping James River vistas and meticulously preserved grounds, guests immersed themselves in the region’s rich horticultural and architectural legacy. The evening concluded with a docent-led tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’s newly opened exhibition “Frida Kahlo: Beyond the Myth” followed by an elegant private dinner at Amuse, the museum’s critically acclaimed restaurant. 

The retreat concluded on Friday, May 2, with a farewell breakfast at the Jefferson Hotel with botanical artist Anne Blackwell Thompson. It was the ideal occasion for McKinnon and Harris to announce the debut of its artist-in-residence partnership with Blackwell Thompson’s studio, Blackwell Botanicals, which will bring her ethereal plant and flower compositions to the brand’s New York City showroom in spring 2026.

Spanning designers from Dallas, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Miami, and Chicago, the guest list included such notables as James Hunter; Cindy Rinfret, Joan Craig, Dan Houchard, Deborah Wecselman, Eric Cohler, Lisa Henderson, Melanie Millner, Robert Bell, Taylor Stebbins, and Wade Weissman.