One particularly prickly issue dealt with the installed stained glass windows and leaded glass windows. Family treasures? The result of a successful day of antiquing? The previous owner obviously loved them as they were very old before they were moved into the beach house. Since the colored glass, while beautiful, blocked the light, it was decided to sell all but one. A local antique dealer took a fancy to them. After buying and reframing them, they are now up for sale in her shop.
The leaded glass panels seemed better suited to the house. Originally opposite the front door, they held pride of place. Everyone’s first impression became those panels. And although they limited the light that shined into the foyer, the patterns of metal bands afforded an interesting view to the garden.
Oh, here is the delicious quandary: What to do? Keep the window in place and give up garden access from the foyer? Relocate the panels in the house? Sell the panels? There was a lively conversation of the “let’s do this, no, let’s do that” variety that lasted several weeks. Final decision: Separate the panel sections so that they can be used individually in some other part of the house. Install French doors to the garden for an open, modern feeling. Keep the old, but enliven the foyer with a light, bright introduction to the beautiful Florida landscape and ocean beyond. We have a plan…
A creative architect serves many functions. In this case, Matt was asked to solve our recycling problem by finding places for these leaded glass panels. His solution…let’s use them as the fronts for the doors of the storage cabinet we were building in the dining room. The piece will have lights to show the beauty of the glass (and the china behind). Larry, our multi talented, in house carpenter, loved the challenge. He built frames so that each panel serves as a single door. While not yet painted, it’s already obvious that this piece will be a distinctive feature of the dining room.
Like the Chicago Brick fireplace reincarnated as an outdoor grill, Folly now has a new, more appropriate place for all the very old, still beautiful, leaded glass.
Don’t you love recycling?!
