is to eastern on fox news. and start smart every day weekdays six to nine eastern for mornings with maria. right here on foxbusiness, i hope you'll join us as we >> a hard-charging real estate mogul who's ahead of his time... >> edmund was a real visionary. >> ...meets a cutting-edge furniture designer. >> there was a lot of synergy when the two of them came together. >> he fills one home with ultra-modern pieces. then another and another. >> they jumped on it. they puked on it, they came in from the swimming pool and sat on it. >> when he's gone, his heirs are in for the surprise of a lifetime. >> and it rachets up, and it rachets up. i'm sitting there next to my son, slapping his leg, going, "matthew! matthew! matthew!" [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in tucson, arizona, to meet the family of a man who spent his entire life building beautiful homes, and it led him to amass a collection of what some would say was less-than-functional furniture but others insist were works of art. >> my name is diane bennett. i was married to edmund bennett for 30 years. he left us an inheritance that had collectors around the world buzzing. >> hi, diane. >> hi, jamie. >> diane was ed's third wife. this is the last of eight homes they shared until his death in 2013. oh, my. >> this is a history of 33 years of a blended family, ed's children, my children, ed, and me. >> diane, tell me about edmund. >> well, he was a very complex man. he was very pragmatic

but a real romantic. ♪ >> born in washington, dc, in 1920, bennett serves in both world war ii and korea. by 1953, he's ready for peacetime and takes a job at the state department. he and his first wife, wilda, are making their own contribution to the baby boom. he buys two lots in washington, with plans to build a home on one and sell the other. >> as soon as he would start to build one, someone would offer him enough money that would inspire him to sell it. >> so he bought two more lots and built two more houses, and the same thing happened. actually, it was five houses before the family got to move into a larger house. >> suddenly, bureaucrat edmund bennett has a new career as a real estate developer. in 1962, he lands his first big project -- carderock springs, maryland, a 300-acre upscale subdivision.

>> he was an artist, and he was very aware and wanting to preserve the natural habitat, making each neighborhood unique. >> bennett demands complete control of the project. buyers are subject to strict rules -- no metal fences, no outdoor clothes lines. you don't like it? don't buy the house. >> he had a vision always of what he wanted. it was difficult sometimes for him to understand that those in his immediate circle might have their own vision. >> what's it like to live with a man like that? >> not calm. when there were differences, we had to learn how to negotiate those differences, and sometimes it was at the top of our lungs. >> to furnish his model at carderock, bennett wants something that has a wow factor yet matches his own naturalistic design philosophy.

his search leads him to the studio of an idiosyncratic woodworker named george nakashima. >> nakashima was known for taking naturally felled wood and creating inherently individual works for that specific piece of wood. >> nakashima's story oddly parallels bennett's. born in washington state, he earns an architecture degree from mit. in 1942, just as ed bennett is being inducted into the army, nakashima, his wife, and young daughter are among more than 110,000 japanese americans forcibly interned in war relocation camps. it's a dismal experience, but he meets a master woodworker who teaches him to craft simple but beautiful furniture using traditional japanese hand tools. after the war, nakashima builds

a workshop in new hope, pennsylvania, where he uses these centuries-old techniques to create modern masterpieces. "every tree," he says, "has its destiny." >> we're allowing the wood to speak for itself. i am trying to reveal the beauty that is in the wood. and part of that is this beautiful natural edge, which is a real characteristic of nakashima work. >> to better understand this zen modernism, i turn to ben mcnitt of tucson, one of legions of contemporary craftsmen deeply influenced by nakashima. i'd love to help you make this table. >> well, to get started, what i'd like you to do is take this chisel, and in very light little taps... >> i can see what it means to give a tree, in nakashima's words, a second life through this technique. look, i'm doing a good job, i think. >> you're doing a very good job. >> i also see why edmund bennett is dazzled when he first steps into nakashima's studio in 1963.

soon, george's workshop is humming with furniture for the carderock model. dozens of pieces, including lounge chairs, benches, and headboards. bennett commissions some items, like this lamp, for as little as $110. >> it quickly became a marriage made in heaven. they recognized in each other a tremendous appreciation for design. >> that marriage is memorialized in extensive correspondence between the two men about the carderock project. and nakashima personally checks out the installations, including this $350 wall case, when he visits the development. >> it was a bonus for mr. nakashima because it was a showplace for his furniture, as well as being a bonus for ed in terms of having people come see the community. >> and when the carderock model opens, it's clear that the

design vision shared by bennett and nakashima is a winner. >> that first weekend, that generated over a thousand visits through the model home. so it was a huge success. >> before long, bennett sells out to american cyanamid and pursues other opportunities in real estate and banking. but he hangs on to his friend george's quirky furniture. for the next 40 years, he fills every one of his homes with it. elizabeth, your dad let you play on the furniture. did you let your kids play as well? >> they played on it. they jumped on it. they puked on it. they came in from the swimming pool and sat on it. >> that's before they knew what it was worth. nakashima achieves superstar status in 1973 when new york governor nelson rockefeller commissions 200 pieces like these for his mansion in westchester. nakashima's reputation keeps growing even after his death in

1990. in 2014, a half century after ed bennett's first visit, nakashima's workshop is designated a national landmark. the developer and the woodworker -- two men ahead of their time. >> the george nakashima couch -- $4,500 on the internet now. >> just how far ahead? ed bennett's family is about to find out. >> lot number 245 is one of the lots from the bennett family. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer in a moment. (vo) the flock blindly falls into formation. flying south for the winter. they never stray from their predetermined path.

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♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪

♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ >> so, what piece of furniture sold at auction in 2004 for a record $36.7 million? the answer is "a," the so-called badminton chest, commissioned by the 3rd duke of beaufort in 1726. it was made of ebony and encrusted with amethyst, quartz, and other jewels. >> for half a century, real estate developer ed bennett fills his homes with quirky furniture from master craftsman george nakashima. elizabeth soto and bruce bennett, two of bennett's four children, grew up surrounded by the stuff.

the tables and chairs, the bench in the hall, all crafted by nakashima. but one piece in particular embodies the close bond shared by both edmund and diane's children. >> my favorite piece by far was the dining room table. we would gather around this table, and it turned out that we blended quite well. >> a black walnut tree given that second life by nakashima. bennett cherishes it for the rest of his. >> well, the dining room table was the center of the family. i look at it -- there was four generations of our family that sat at that table. it just seemed like if there was another person, somehow, another chair fit there. >> in march of 2013, the family gathers around it for a meal. edmund is 93 and seriously ill. >> he was sitting up at the head of the table where he always

sits. >> we didn't know for sure that it was going to be his last one, but it was his last one. >> two weeks later, edmund bennett dies. so kind of you to share. his will provides generously for diane. however, he leaves his large nakashima collection to his four biological children. ♪ what ed's children don't inherit is his almost obsessive love for it. >> we all talked first -- "does anybody wanna keep any of these pieces?" >> some of it was pretty big. it was a pretty easy decision because the process of downsizing warranted that we weren't all gonna be able to keep the furniture. >> they decide to sell. but how? where? and for how much? that's when pam hardie, an ex-girlfriend of bruce's and often one of those extra chairs at the nakashima table, offers to help. >> i'm a huge antiques fan, and

i'm a huge bennett fan, so it was a match made. >> she's always been just a tremendous family friend and has always stayed close to the family. >> pam, a director in a marketing firm, first wants to get an estimate for the value of the collection. she takes this lamp to a professional for an appraisal. >> i get on the phone, and i called elizabeth. >> she called me. >> i could hardly breathe and said, "you've got to sit down." >> she goes, "liddy! liddy! liddy! do you know how much this lamp is worth?" and i went, "no, pam. tell me!" and she said, "$10,000!" >> and there was a thud on the other end of the phone. [ laughs ] >> if a single lamp is worth $10,000, the bennett heirs must be sitting on a small fortune. the excitement just built from there. >> $20,000, the bid now. any advance over $20,000? $22,500... >> that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question for you.

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discuss counts and symptoms with your doctor. >> so, where does the most expensive furniture wood come from? the answer is "c," southeast asia, where a single pound of agarwood can cost more than $13,000. >> so many memories. >> there are. sometimes i just come and stand here and reminisce. >> in 2013, when ed bennett dies, his four children inherit more than 60 pieces of furniture by master designer george nakashima. all sorts of stuff -- lamps, a rocking chair, and a dining room

set beloved by four generations of the family. it's been half a century since edmund bennett first walked into george nakashima's workshop and nakashima installed his work in bennett's model home. since then, nakashima -- who died in 1990 -- has become one of the most iconic and collectible american designers. still, bennett's heirs are not interested in keeping their strange inheritance, so they decide to sell the collection through a los angeles company, la modern auctions. a perfect excuse for me to pay a visit to the auction house owner, peter loughery. peter? >> hi. >> hi. how are you? i'm jamie. >> good! welcome. >> ah! and there's a nakashima. >> yeah, this is one our favorite pieces. it's a round table in a round space. >> turns out peter has studied and collected nakashima furniture for almost 30 years.

>> i think the first nakashima piece i bought, i may have been 18 or 19 years old. it was still considered used furniture. >> once loughery sets the auction date, the family ships the bennett collection to la. did you have a reaction when you saw the furniture being packed up and taken out? >> we had our last family dinner, and we sat around the table, and we talked about edmund. we all held hands, and we said a prayer of thanksgiving for the table and for edmund, and hoped that the next family that had the table have the pleasures that we had with it. ♪ >> as the big day approaches, diane bennett and three of ed's children fly to la. elizabeth brings her two children, and, of course, pam hardie is there, too. >> i wouldn't have missed being at that auction for the world. >> we all said we were going to

sit on our hands in case we accidentally buy a piece back that we don't want. [ laughs ] >> take me inside the auction room that day. >> nervous, everybody was nervous. >> lot number 245 is one of the lots from the bennett family, >> i take out my phone. i start filming. >> the first nakashima piece is that wall case bennett bought for his carderock model home in 1963. loughery estimates it's now worth between $20,000 and $30,000 -- many times what ed bennett paid for it. could it really go for that much? >> $20,000, back of the room. >> i was floored. >> we just were speechless. >> all through? >> that's next. ♪ oh, ho! oh, ho, ho, ho! you... you got me. uh, what do you want? i've got uh, ai robots, i've got vr goggles. i want your sled, please. no.

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bidding begins on his collection of zen modern furniture by george nakashima. the first piece up, that wall case from bennett's model home way back when. bidding begins at the low estimate -- $20,000. >> and it ratchets up. and it ratchets up. and another phone bid comes in. and an online bid comes in. peter would say... >> all done, all through? >> and then somebody picked it up again. >> i'm sitting there next to my son, slapping his leg, going, "matthew! matthew! matthew!" >> the next thing you know, it is far above the high estimate. >> all done, all through? >> pam and i are like this. [ laughs ] >> sold! >> the hammer price was actually

$52,500. that was crazy. >> it's almost twice the high estimate and 150 times what bennett paid for it back in the 1960s. >> the george nakashima couch, $4,500 on the internet now. >> that first piece sets off a bidding frenzy. >> sold. this is the conoid headboard from the bennett family commissions. >> conoid bench -- $32,500. sliding-door cabinet -- $16,000. "q" bench... >> sold it. >> 14,000. pam's lamp, the one she had appraised, goes to the la county museum of art... >> sold it! >> ...for $12,000. and that dining room table with 12 chairs, the one around which ed and diane's sons and daughters, grandchildren and friends shared so much joy... >> any more?

sold. >> ...they sell for a total of $90,000, more than anything else in the collection. >> my daughter had like a little mini breakdown. >> george nakashima couch, the george nakashima lounge chairs, george nakashima table lamp. >> to her, it was like, "you're selling grandpa." >> $3,750. $4,000 is bid. $4,500 i have. fair warning... >> once she talked through it with me... >> sold. $7,000. >> ...she realizes it was a very good thing. >> yeah, it's bittersweet. i mean, he meant a lot to me. and he was a self-made guy. you know, he came from that greatest generation. >> the auction yields almost $400,000, a new standard of value for the works of george nakashima. i guess ed bennett knew what he was doing, lugging all that furniture from one house to the next. the bennett family's strange inheritance -- born in the forests of pennsylvania, given a

second life by the hands of a master craftsman, then witness to decades of happy family life -- is shipped off to collectors around the world, treasured now as high art. george nakashima was right -- each tree does have its own destiny. and one tree's destiny will be to rock to sleep another generation of bennetts. it's the one thing ed's daughter keeps for herself. >> my dad had a rocking chair here that i really liked, with a free-form arm, so that was the piece that i decided to keep. i was thinking in the back of my mind, "oh, someday somebody will rock a child in this rocking chair." >> diane bennett has now furnished her house with other great american mid-century designers. the nakashima furniture is gone, and edmund is gone. what is that like for you every day? >> i miss edmund terribly.

i go by a saying that's important to me, which is "do not mourn that which you've lost. rejoice instead that you had it." we had a wonderful life together. >> edmund bennett not only insisted his home be filled with nakashima furniture -- he also had very definite ideas about what would or wouldn't work on the walls, right up till the very end. weeks before he died, he saw diane hanging some things on the wall, and he looked chagrined. he turned to one of his kids, and he said, "i'm very worried about diane and all of her european art." well, ed's gone. the european art has stayed. he's still resting in peace, diane says. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us?

we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> he leads the most famous charge in american history. >> i am standing right on the site of pickett's charge. >> it cost him hundreds of men, but it made him immortal. >> he leaves his descendants with a suitcase full of heirlooms. >> you want to take a look? >> i really would. >> then a fast-talking con man comes to town... >> he dressed well, he was very glib of tongue. >> ...forcing the general's heir into battle over his strange inheritance. >> what was your reaction? >> i was pissed. it began to dawn on me that i had been really truly ripped off. [ woman vocalizing, theme music plays ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] [ folk music plays ]