Mark Reed

Mark Reed is a self-taught designer, craftsman, and inventor whose lifelong journey has combined architectural vision, East Asian–inspired décor, and a devotion to reimagining everyday spaces into places of peace and tranquility. Without East Asian ancestry, Reed created what has become a modern folklore landmark in the American Heartland: his family’s Chinese House, a unique architectural and cultural gem.

Image of Mark Reed’s Chinese House

Over the course of more than twenty-five years, Reed developed his signature Silent Bonsai—true-to-life, artificial bonsai trees that combine sculpture, design engineering, and foliage aesthetics. Inspired by Deborah R. Koreshoff’s Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy, Reed meticulously refined his process, replacing artificial foliage with realistic pine needles to achieve botanical authenticity. His bonsai are not simply decorative works but symbolic creations. His piece Wild Geese Flying Over Mountain Peak, exhibited at the Figge Art Museum in the 2024 Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition, stands as a “Visual Voice of Tenacity,” embodying survival in the harshest environments.

Reed’s creative philosophy was shaped in part by his father, a Renaissance man of woodworking, photography, and furniture restoration. From accompanying his father through affluent neighborhoods of Alabama to envisioning his own bold creations, Reed inherited both entrepreneurial spirit and an eye for design. His Chinese House reflects this legacy, evolving over a decade into a home filled with themed interiors, rock gardens, and bonsai that symbolize resilience and creativity.

Mark Reed’s Display at Figge Art Museum

Looking ahead, Reed is expanding into writing, with two fictional books in progress. One reflects on the demise of his father’s dream, and how its seeds grew into the Chinese House. The other imagines the global reach of his work, inspired by the Chinese House’s feature in an international 2006 photo calendar—a tale where a young architect in China sees the house, believes its designer was Chinese, and years later journeys to Park Forest to discover the real story.

For Reed, every project is an act of storytelling—whether through architecture, bonsai, or words—each carrying a message of endurance, imagination, and living “outside the box.”