PROJECTS
Since our founding 30 years ago, we have completed more than 700 residential and institutional projects — many of them for repeat customers. Some projects have been on a large scale, such as our award-winning restoration work at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill or the 46 windows we reproduced with glazing enhancements for the Russian Ambassador’s Residence.
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WASHINGTON D.C. LANDMARKS
FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY, 2023
c. 1932 - Aluminum window restoration
Accelerated production of aluminum in WWII evolved aluminum from exotic to ubiquitous. In the 20’s and 30’s, only the well-endowed could afford it. In Washington, we see it at the National Gallery of Art, the Folger, and the Federal Triangle — all great monuments from this period. The blended aesthetic (English Renaissance and 20th century Art-Deco), steel and aluminum fenestration and grills, unique design details into the structure of the doors and windows, wire glass, leaded glass, custom hardware, and a broad variety of window types required our in-house skills to expand.
In-house we cast bronze and aluminum hardware parts, plating the bronze in zinc for an aluminum feel. The original aluminum parts in the door cremones failed, and we remade them in bronze. The founders’ room had a renaissance interior and a 20th-century facade. Aluminum, steel, lead and stained glass were all revived.
The 100-year-old aluminum was the most challenging. We had to weld shut and retap hundreds of hardware mounts and carefully work door panel faces to regularize their patina. The wood shop turned into an aluminum shop for a few months and we would love to do it again.
Windows in aluminum were novel when selected for the Folger. These aluminum windows are one-offs, unlike the steel and wood windows whose designs are well-proven and resolved. We worked with MTFA and a great staff at Folger on some quiet refinements, bringing back the sound operation of the doors and windows.
MELLON AUDITORIUM, 2023
c. 1932 — Door restoration and gilding
This was a ridiculously fun job at one of the finest buildings of the Federal Triangle. Consummate wood finishing, gilding, hardware revival, and wood restoration. One of the greatest yet least known public spaces in the District. The GSA leased it to Ridgewalls Catering, and with a full revival of the architecture, I think many more Washingtonians will start enjoying this space.
Johann Von Katsenborgen, the most diversely talented and experienced craftsman I’ve worked with, led the work re-gilding all the doors with 24-carat gold. Our painting team and lead finisher helped reach the results you see here.
95% of the problems in older buildings are the naive and careless changes and the degradation from sun, rain, and ice. Rarely do we find original mistakes, but in seems the Mellon had some. To get elegant operation from the main bronze door pairs throughout, we had to remove the bronze and cut and weld the steel mounts inside the frames to create the correct tolerance.
John Canning Company did the larger scope, including Dutch Gilding on the stone and plaster. Sprig’s team at Universal Floors did the amazing new floor.
CARNEGIE LIBRARY FOR APPLE, 2018
c. 1903 — Window and door restoration and reproduction, 100 doors and windows
I did a paper on this building in 1980 while in architecture school. Then the building had lost purpose, and Mies Van der Rohe designed a modernist masterpiece to house the library's books blocks away. In the 1990's it served as a construction office while the new convention center was being built and suffered a terrible insulating glass retrofit in the process.
When Apple eyed the building in 2016, it was worn, dirty, and unmodernized. The original Carnegie Libraries were of varying build quality. We reproduced the main entrances, façade, and clerestory casements throughout. We did a mock-up to show Apple these 110-year-old windows could be made to operate from a cell phone, but they were not interested. They chose to install double-pane glass throughout. This will work well in the reproduction sash, but I predict seal failure will develop in the large original sash.
The building suffered riot damage a few years later and so we were restoring our own work. See the photos for a concealed cremone of our design at the South entrance to improve strength and keep a clean Apple look.
GEORGETOWN CANAL GATES, 2018-19
c. 1831 original canal construction
What a great adventure this one was. On one side, Clark Construction and the Federal Government, on the other, a team of the best carpenters ever at The Craftsmen Group and our allies at the Cattail Amish Foundry.
We brought a pair of the existing gates to our facility to really assess the successes and failures. The existing gates could have lasted another 40 years if they had followed the original design, but the broad leaf yellow pine was treated before the making of the parts. We built the entire gates (8 total) with joinery and hardware mortices, then disassembled and shipped them back to Culpeper Wood Preservers. When the material returned after a special, longer, higher-pressure treatment, every bit of end grain and every shoulder and rabbet was treated. After assembly, the gates were ready for heavy service.
Great fun and a great fit, there were more gates to build - all the way out to the Beltway! Sadly, however, the Park Service backed away from this specification regarding post fabrication treatment, so we stood down.
Ours are the Georgetown Gates. Watch with me in about 2045 when the Georgetown Gates remain in service and the others fall to splinters.
RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING DOORS, 2018
c. 1962 — Historic door reproduction, hardware procurement, fabricated 110 reproduction doors
CANNON HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, 2016-22
c. 1903 — Window and door restoration, hardware refinishing, refinishing of 1000 doors and 3000 windows
Simon Cook managed and motivated a large team onsite for this highly pressurized project. We restored and refinished 1000 original mahogany doors and about 3000 window sash. The doors had failing panel cores and had to be adapted for modern locks, and the windows were in worse shape than others typically seen from the same period.
DUMBARTON HOUSE, 2016-20
c. 1800
Owned by the Colonial Dames of America, Dumbarton House is a lovely building and gardens, and a favorite spot for wedding planners. Originally built c. 1800, this house was moved from its first site when the Q Street bridge was built over Rock Creek Park.
The building showed the three hallmarks of failed fenestration: 1) Use of modern farm grown wood, 2) Incorrect glazing details to promote seal failure at insulating glass, 3) Bad profiles and shapes overall that do not shed water. We restored every window and door in the main house, and then made all new mahogany doors and windows to replace the 40’ long entry to the garden at the ground level.
CORCORAN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS & DESIGN AT GW, 2016
c. 1897 — wood and steel window restoration
Three great banking fortunes were made here in the late 19th Century. Mellon, Renwich and Corcoran. All left a valuable legacy in architecture. We’ve had the privilege to work on many of the buildings founded by these men.
I appreciate the site and massing of the Corcoran School, but it captures spaces that are difficult to use and the windows are curiously complex and difficult to service. We restored wood double hinges, steel casements, steel pivots, leaded glass, and there were odd, center pivot wood sash similar to those at the Carnegie Library.
SULGRAVE CLUB, 2016
c. 1908 — Last of Dupont Mansions, historic sash restoration, bowed sash, hardware restoration
CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB, 2019
c. 1924 — Steel window restoration, door and hardware, fabrication, and stained glass
TUDOR PLACE, 2017
c. 1815 — Window restoration
PROSPECT HOUSE, 2016
c. 1788 — Window restoration
OCTAGON MUSEUM, 2015
c. 1803 — Rare and delicate pre-Industrial Revolution sash and glass, historic window restoration, reproduction, and hardware refinishing
ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE MCDOWELL HALL, 2015
c. 1884 — Large-scale refurbishment project
OLD POST OFFICE PAVILION / Trump International Hotel / Waldorf Astoria , 2014
c. 1890 — Sash and jamb restoration, reproduction, hardware cleaning, repair, and refinishing, 1,100 windows restored — Washington Building Congress Craftsmanship Award
A tremendous granite edifice was built in the city’s center in the 1890s, reflecting the power and value of the postal service to culture and country. Amazingly, it was made obsolete just 25 years later when the Beaux Arts Monument was built next to Union Station (a building that we helped in restoring c. 1991). Court records of the time and our on the ground evidence revealed the granite got the lion’s share of the budget and there were problems with the millwork, particularly the window’s operation. We moderns can forget there were neither air conditioning or electric fans in the 1890s. The government sued and it was resolved the builder had to employ a full time window operator.
Protests for the preservation of the old Post Office started in the early ‘70s, where hippies carried play cards with the slogan “Don’t Tear it Down” up Penn Avenue. Doubly ironic perhaps, the government builds this granite monument and just 80 years later it is out of fashion and belittled by technology. Then subversives protest its demise, heralding its romance and beauty, and then again the very core of the rich and powerful return to make it their Hotel complete with presidential suite.
We had complete access to the exterior and right up the tower, so it got maintenance for the first time in 130 years. The original glass was streaked and stained, so we cut all new 1/4” plate glass to replace it all. Rare for our work, the sash were fixed in position.
I even got a call from D.T. to talk about price during the negotiations. We worked it out and delivered quite a value on this one.
JACKSON ARTS CENTER, 2013
c. 1880 — Historic window restoration and reproduction, 70 school windows
Jackson Arts is an early public arts collaborative, originally a public school c 1890. Some brilliant artists work inside.
This building is proof of the amazing power of the original growth northeastern white pine, a soft wood which cuts beautifully both by hand and machine and is nearly totally resistant to bacterial decay. The degradation of the windows at JAC is among the most profound we have restored. In its 120 years I don’t think it was ever repainted. The glass was falling to the ground below. Our restoration put another century on these excellent windows. While decay this advanced requires complete sash disassembly, reproduction parts and re-glueing, at least there is less paint stripping. We conserved all the lovely old glass and retrofit our zinc weather stripping so the windows became more efficient than ever.
MARET SCHOOL, 2013
c. 1806 — Pre-Industrial Revolution structure, historic sash and jamb restoration and reproduction — Washington Building Congress Craftsmanship Award
An elite private school, and if you can judge the people inside by the art on the walls, quite possibly the best. This was a great project with folks who understand and appreciate the value of preserving their building.
WWII is the most significant pivot in the evolution of material science and technology. The Civil War was the most profound. The industrial revolution did not begin here until that time, and the building that is now the Maret School was built before that. The architecture feels like Tudor Place. They were built when things were much harder to make. Except for a candle (whale oil and gaslight were not yet commodified), a window was one’s source of light.
It was really fun to restore the arched, bowed sash you see pictured. Rare, delicate, and triumphant for its makers. Glad we helped it endure centuries more.
GSA MODERNIZATION, 2011
c. 1910 — Sash reproduction with insulating, blast glass, 3000 sash fabricated — AGC Award of Excellence
U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY / ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 2012
c. 1910 — Sash and jamb restoration and reproduction
ASBURY METHODIST CHURCH, 2010
c. 1890 — Sash and jamb reproductions, leaded and stained glass
EASTERN MARKET, 2008
c. 1890 — Sash and jamb restoration and reproduction, hardware fabrication
Among Washington's most beloved buildings, designed by the great Adolf Clauss. I think he is Washington's most important and prolific 19th century architect. He started as a communist and carpenter and ended as a republican. In addition to Eastern Market, we have worked on two of his other buildings at the Franklin School and Calvary Baptist.
For me, his great work expresses the civic ambitions of our capital reaching to define itself after the war between the states. The massing, corbeling, arched motifs, and his favored brick create scale and texture that make for beautiful, humane, and enduring architecture.
We worked closely with the city and Quinn Evans Architects in a fast-paced project in the wake of a fire. About 30% of the windows had been made again c 1977. They were good reproductions, exceptional for the time, and we restored them too.
We were still in the original 1200 sq foot alley building near Howard University during the project, and so set up on site for much of the glazing, putty, and paint. The round sash hinge was our own design and making, allowing easy sash removal for maintenance. The muntin profile was a handsome ovolo. We had custom knives made and still use them today.
DUMBARTON COURT, 2008
c. 1910 — Window restoration
EMBASSIES
Russian Embassy, 2019-20
c. 1910 — Sash reproduction, insulating glass, sound attenuating gaskets and weatherstrips
A fascinating and challenging project from design to complete installation in four months. We developed an insulating glass design to enhance sound attenuation while fitting in traditionally styled in-swing casement windows. We built Sepele Mahogany reproduction sash 2 1/4” thick and installed within them double-laminated 3/4” thick insulating glass with low-e film. All existing hardware was refurbished here in-house as well as the glass and sash manufacture. We look forward to working with the Russians again on this fine piece architecture bought originally by the Czar circa 1913.
Egyptian Embassy, 2002
c. 1907 — Window restoration
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 1999
c. 1914 — Window restoration with insulating glass retrofit
Our first major insulating glass retrofit into original historic sash. We removed and restored the sash, machining them to accommodate 1/2” insulating glass panels. Bonded to their exterior are mahogany components profiled as though they were glazing putty. The sash were returned to their original openings and suspended on counterweights which had to double in size. Twenty years later, we have not had a seal or muntin failure.
French Embassy, 1996 & 2002
c. 1910 — Window restoration, reproduction, leaded glass
Since the early 90’s we have done a number of projects at this Kalorama residence, including door and window restoration and hardware reproduction.
RESIDENTIAL
GEORGETOWN
3126 N Street NW
3403 P Street NW
2916 N Street NW
3053 P Street NW
1533 28th Street NW
1605 Sutter Lane NW
3023 P Street NW
1623 28th Street NW
1520 26th Street NW
2705 34th Place NW
2800 36th Street NW
3252 O Street NW
3036 P Street NW
3015 Dent Place NW
3062 Q Street NW
1611 29th Street NW
2810 P Street NW
1510 30th Street NW
1507 33rd Street NW
2924 N Street NW
KALORAMA
2446 Belmont Road NW
3065 Whitehaven Street NW
3055 Whitehaven Street NW
2807 Cathedral Avenue NW
DUPONT CIRCLE
1633 16th Street NW
1731 Swann Street NW
1706 21st Street NW
TENLEYTOWN
5521 Potomac Avenue NW
3421 Lowell Street NW
3523 Quebec Street NW
3126 N ST NW, 2014
c. 1830 — Window restoration, door reproduction, aesthetic studies, siding restoration, and shutter fabrication
