Heartpine texture kitchen detail photos

by | Apr 27, 2017 | Custom Kitchens, Kitchen Renovation

Gepetto attempts to stand out in our kitchen details

We design our kitchens to expose the beauty in the materials and fabricate them by hand from reclaimed lumber to allow the natural processes of aging to show in the finished product.

Hand turned pedestals reveal the long and varied natural grain of the heart pine through the arc’d design.  The solid wood joinery is exposed on the drawer facing showing the sidegrain of the heart pine, as well as the depth of quality in the joinery that will last for generations.

Our wood craftsmen hand pick the naturally aged barnwood and match it for grain, size and color across each of the cabinet panels for the most pleasing results.

The crown molding topping this free standing cabinet shows the insect damage in some of the reclaimed woods from this property.  Since the barn that was torn down to renovate this kitchen was on the same property, all the aging elements become the story of the new construction.  We chose to use the dotted pieces in the crown molding as they add interest, while the wide vertical faces of the cabinets feature clean uninterrupted wood grain.  The handmade attention to detail here can be easily missed, so we’ll just point it out for you to take in slowly as you shop contractors for your custom kitchen remodel.

Heartpine texture kitchen detail photos

We hope you enjoy looking at our heartpine textures and details as we love the warm organic variety of wood. We hope you share, pin or do that social media thing with our images and recommend us to any of your friends trying to remodel their kitchen. Our expertise designing for small spaces, and highlighting unique materials will bring your kitchen redesign to life. Give Matthew a call today!

Southern Plantation Historic restoration contractor

by | Mar 28, 2011 | Built-in Storage VA, Custom Cabinetry, Historic Restoration, Kitchen Renovation, Molding and Trim, Project Spotlight, Richmond VA Woodworkers, Williamsburg VA, Wooden Windows

Historic Virginia Plantation Restoration Contractor
Historic Wooden Staircase Restoration Contractor
Rift or quarter-grain cuts are best. These cuts are the most stable. Flat grain often expands and contracts seasonally at twice the rate of quartered stock.
Historic Mantle and Trim Manufacturer Virginia
With that said, here are 10 things to keep in mind when determining which approach will work best for you:

1. Identify the factors that will shape your decision. Deciding whether to restore or rehabilitate your house, and to what extent, involves understanding its history; its architecture; and the present condition of its materials, finishes, and systems. You should also consider your household’s lifestyle and what personal needs the finished house must accommodate. More broadly, local historic district designations, local building codes, property insurance, and other regulatory or financial considerations will impact the path you take.

2. Review the house’s history. Who lived in the house and when? Did important events occur there? Did either (or both) scenarios have historical significance? If so, you could consider restoring the house to that period to help interpret its history.

Historic Home Renovation with Modern Kitchen
Install plain sawn lumber with the heart side up. Flat lumber will wear better with the heart facing up. If there’s cupping, the edges will stay flat, and only the center will hump slightly.
Virginia Historic Mantle and Trim Supplier
3. Know what “restore” means. To restore a house means to return its interior and exterior appearance to a particular date or time period. Strict restorations—ones that eliminate everything not present during the period chosen—are rare for homes, with most owners opting to maintain modern systems (plumbing, anyone?) and sympathetically designed changes, such as later additions, that add to the house’s history.

4. Know what “rehabilitate” means. To rehabilitate a house means to make it useful and functional for contemporary living while preserving important historic and architectural features. For example, a rehabilitated old house would always include modern electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems, a modern kitchen, and other attributes typical of present-day homes.

Historic Home Renovation Cabinetry
Use traditional joinery. Component repairs should be made using traditional joinery instead of non-historic methods like a wholesale epoxy casting of a missing part.
Virginia Historic Home Restoration Supplier
5. Choose your approach. The major difference between restoring and rehabilitating is to either exactly duplicate a particular period or concentrate on preserving a sense of the changes that have occurred over time. For example, if an Italianate-style house had lost its wood eave brackets, a restoration project would duplicate them in wood as they originally appeared, while a rehab project would add new brackets of a compatible design in an appropriate substitute material (ex. fiberglass).

6. Evaluate existing alterations. Consider the quality, design, materials, and craftsmanship of the original house as well as the changes that have occurred over time. Compatible interior and exterior changes of the same or better quality than the original house, even if done in different styles or materials, should probably be kept and restored. Conversely, you should probably remove any poorly designed or executed changes.

9. Take care not to falsify the history of the house. This might seem counter-intuitive, but you actually do want to be able to tell additions apart from the original. That way, the house’s history is visible and transparent. Also be careful not to design additions that make the house appear to date from an earlier or later period, or alter the house’s details to an extent that suggest a different architectural period.

10. Look to the experts. For a more detailed list of recommendations, check out the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. This jam-packed resource from the National Park Service includes guidelines on preserving, rehabilitating, restoring, and reconstructing historic buildings.

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to determining whether you should restore or rehabilitate your historic home. Let your property, capabilities, and needs help guide your decision, and chances are you’ll arrive at an accurate, appropriate solution.

The Glen Roy Estate was renovated and restored with the fine wood fabricated pieces by Gepetto Millworks.

We built most of the wooden construction, which was restored from a gutted historical property including:

  • cabinetry
  • kitchen design
  • wardrobe style kitchen storage
  • fireplace mantles
  • bathroom storage
  • laundry hideaway
  • china display shelving
  • custom closet design (NYC theme)
  • skylight

 

Glen Roy Plantation is a pristine 3-story, Georgian Revival home, which was completed in 1852. The intact interior features Greek Revival detailing and includes twelve fireplaces, forty windows, fifteen foot ceilings and a widows walk. The house sits on sixty acres with 500 feet of waterfront along the Ware River. There are also extensive lawns and gardens and numerous outbuildings including an 18th century library and a late 19th century carriage house. The property also features a stable, garage, swimming pool and dock.

Historic Home Window Repair Services