Gepetto manufactures complex wood products.
Historic Restoration and Building projects require specified wood products build using historic methods and our Richmond shop has years of experience producing hand made wood building products.
Replica Wooden Windows being built on our shop assembly line.
We have finished one of our single largest historic renovation contracts creating 860 historic replica windows. Built by hand from African mahogany they passed all physical wear and environmental challenge tests before we began building. The Montgomery Building in Spartansburg SC renovated by Harper Construction. Our team has put in overtime, thought through materials problems and worked diligently through some long hours to make sure we met the project deadlines. Thank you all for your skills and dedication!
Gepetto craftsmen specialize in matching and remaking historic pieces for accurate and lasting renovations qualifying for historic tax credits. While the woodworking may not have changed, people’s expectations as to how long something should take sure have!
The solid mahogany window frames are to the millimeter replicas of the originals, however our bid and the general contractor’s timeline called for a 100 day turnaround on 860 windows. We had to devise a workflow that built 5 windows a day to meet that timeline!
When the tallest guy on your team can walk through a window frame without ducking, it’s a big job. The window frames are of pine, and so sourcing stable quality pine planks 8×2″ over 6ft long is also a trick of the trade that you’ll have to hire us to take advantage of fully. Part of our ability to meet detailed project requirements are our network that sources the raw wood materials right for your construction. The window frame boxes must be accurately joined to square and plumb and so in the video you see us filling the window frame boxes with the window sashes. We have a few more trade secret tips for weather sealing and glazing that helped us pass the stress and efficiency tests that were required by the contractor before they signed off on the whole project. Historically accurate, but meeting modern energy efficiency and weather resistance standards are a modern manufacturing success.
Matthew (with the logo t-shirt in the foreground) intently solving the positioning and fit puzzle that manufacturing wood projects presents on a daily basis. He teaches the craftsmen who are observing the process as well as the sensibility for checking the work. Unlike metals, cement or fiberglass – wood can only be shaped once. Forming a miter joint must be done with exacting precision or it’s too loose and fails. The solid wood construction of these windows include over 20 joints that must be tended to individually. The decision making process of the craftsman guides the fitting and because we have such a large manufacturing scale – the craftsman makes better choices. If piece A is too tight, he can choose from the source stack of forty or fifty pieces to find a better fit without creating wasted pieces or time.
Contact us to bid your historic renovation and you might be surprised at the price. We have managed many large construction orders for clients across the Eastern United States. The windows in the video are shipped to South Carolina where the coastal towns of Charleston and Savannah Georgia have beautiful sections of historic homes. We supply warehouse and industrial space reconstruction projects in Maryland, Delaware and as far north a Connecticut as the move to re-purpose industrial spaces trends throughout the building and architectural trades.
20 years of experience in the field of mill-work has brought Matthew to the level of managing million dollar contracts for large scale production. Nothing in the wood construction field is quite as organized as you might assume, in the above picture Matthew is measuring and calculating the quantity of raw beams needed to be transported from the warehouse to the shop. Materials management, time management and building a skilled workforce that can solve problems as they develop in manufacture all contribute to meeting your project demands.
Raw lumber comes from raw nature – she’s not perfectly uniform. These planks are from 8ft to 12ft long and any width from 4 inches to 34 inches! We have to mill the mahogany from it’s beam size to a 3.8 ” wide window sill. The plank mahogany will be sorted and ripped before the decorative edge is milled into the side to replicate the historic windows from the 1920’s era building.
Gepetto Millworks makes to order any type of historic replica of existing windows. For historically accurate renovation or commercial re-purposing projects that wish to keep the historic charm and effectiveness of mahogony built windows.
Guess the age of the house shown here sporting Gepetto’s historic replica architectural millwork.
Is it
Did you pick “2 Years old”? You’re not the only one mistaken. Many people mistake this house for a famous home of Williamsburg built between 1752 & 1754! The Wythe House once belonged to George Wythe’s father-in-law, Richard Taliaferro. The house was constructed between 1752 and 1754 and was conceived as a whole with no additions made to the rectangular two story structure. Perhaps the most handsome colonial house in Williamsburg, the two-story brick residence is believed to have been designed in the mid-1750s by George Wythe’s father-in-law, the surveyor, builder, and planter Richard Taliaferro (pronounced “Tolliver”). Taliaferro built the addition to the Governor’s Palace about the same time. The house remained as the sole household of Taliaferro when his daughter Elizabeth married George Wythe in 1755. The couple received the house as a wedding present from Taliafero and they received a life tenancy upon his death in 1779. Elizabeth lived here until her death in 1787, and George moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1791 to serve as a judge.
The house served as headquarters for General George Washington – September 14 to 17, and 22 to 28, 1781 – prior to the Siege of Yorktown.[6]
The trend of constructing new homes from architectural classics is supported in these twelve home designs for those discerning individuals who seek a home of magnificent proportions. Some designs are replicas of existing historic homes, with the exteriors faithfully captured. Others are eclectic renditions of pleasing architectural components taken from different homes of the same style and era. All have luxurious floor plans that will accommodate the complex needs of the modern family. Authentic Historical Designs, LLC design partners Cecilia Reese Bullock and Mike Stephens hold the classic lines and proportions of the older architectural style in highest esteem.
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Custom Wood Floor Planking Made to Order
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Renovation Wood Products for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Historic Replica Woodworking made by hand in Richmond VA
Most new homes borrow older styles to some extent. Even if you hire an architect to design a custom home just for you; they must use some feature or some tradition of the past. Colonial and Georgian designs have maintained a steady popularity over the last two centuries in the Virginia and Washington DC areas. During the housing expansion of the 1990s to late 2000s, builders experienced an increased interest in homes with a Victorian or a Country cottage flavor while built with modern techniques.
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historic Replica Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historically Accurate Architectural Millwork
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Historic Wooden Window Builder Richmond VA
Gepetto Millworks based in Virginia supplies historically accurate wooden windows for large scale renovation of historic buildings across the south east. We have supplied the Spartansburg SC area’s Montgomery Building in downtown, the Bull Street District in Columbia South Carolina, and Richmond VA’s tobacco row, Mainstreet, Shokoe Bottom, The Fan, and Museum District with custom made all wood joinery windows. Our window builds have been extensively tested and while historically accurate include weather stripping made of modern materials that meet and exceed all environmental and durability tests they have been subjected to. Single pane, hand glazed windows have worked in the south for over 200 years, and there’s nothing better than the test of time.
As you are renovating your historic home you will find the choice presented to you to tear down one set of window trim,
doorway molding or any part that can not be immediately sourced or replaced. Before you throw away the character
and history of your property one small piece at a time, please contact us to recreate your historic pieces with their full character.
Choosing our solid wood, fully mortise and tenon construction for your windows, doors, fireplace mantles, staircases
kitchens, entryways, closets and crown molding will ensure that the value of your home is reinforced with it’s historic character.
Historic homes are often designed around an entry hall or great room. This greatroom wall hosts a lighted display of period china. All electrical wiring is hidden and the accent lighting on the china cabinet is dimmable so that a warm glow can be kept in the stairway.
Historic Woodworking for Period Authentic Home Renovation
The historic architectural touches include the upper ballaster & solid wood windows,