My clients called me because they wanted a new staircase. Their home is a traditional house with a brick exterior. I have worked with them for over 40 years on their various homes with various styles.
Over the years, in this particular home, we had built a lot of furniture and built-ins. My clients lean a little more classic in style and they love quality hardwoods and hand carving. They favor walnut, especially our selection of highly figured pieces.
The staircase was challenging because there are very few straight pieces on it. Most everything is curved and compound curves and needs to follow existing surfaces. As usual, we made everything, starting with the demo of the old staircase, the design work, then manufacturing all the pieces, giving the staircase a beautiful finish, and finally completing the installation.
I like to use a combination of materials in my projects and this staircase is a good example. The pickets are a mix of my hand-carved wood and my hand-forged iron. I never use pre-made stair pickets or treads, the quality isn’t acceptable to me. To me, staircases are a large sculpture with much movement, my own form of architectural art.
