It began in 2001 at a trade show in Washington D.C. An architect saw the Tiffany Studios reproduction lamps I had on display in my booth and approached me excitedly. He asked if I would be around for a while and, as it was the first day of the show, I assured him I would. He returned in less than an hour carrying a small box which contained a Tiffany Studios blown glass shade. He explained that he was the lead architect for a restoration project taking place on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and they needed someone to reproduce many missing original Tiffany pieces. I told him that I couldn’t help him reproduce the glass shades (I wasn’t a proficient glass blower at the time) but I knew a couple glass blowers that could. I also told him that if they needed any fixtures restored or reproduced, I could do that work. We exchanged business cards, and he left.

It was a few months later when I received his call. He informed me that all of the Tiffany Studios lighting we had discussed at the trade show had been shifted to the next phase in the restoration of this property, but they had an immediate need to restore the existing hardware and replicate some missing parts. I replied that I was interested, and he put forth a challenge. He had two original Art Nouveau style cast bronze door escutcheons, one that retained its original finish and another that had been “cleaned”; he wanted me to apply a patina to match the original. I agreed, and when I received the package I did as he requested. I sent the package back to him and waited for his call. When he got in touch a few days later, he began the conversation with “I don’t know which one was the original.” Early the following week, I received eight massive boxes stuffed with door and window hardware of every kind: handles, escutcheons, hinges, slidebolts, latches, knobs, hooks, etc. Some were elaborately designed, some simple and utilitarian. That was the beginning of the first phase of three restoration phases that I was involved in at the Whalehead Club, Corolla, North Carolina.