Unique Opportunity Knocks

The story behind the project on Crescent Avenue is quite interesting to me. I elaborated a few things at this $6M residence, but the most fun, in my view, was a wine cellar doorway that involved manual carving work. The owner was Don and the builder was Timberock Home Developments. Don had ordered a two-hundred-year-old set of doors in a remote Chinese town from a demolished castle, and the petition was that there be a surrounding door casing/frame designed and crafted to seamlessly match the antique doors. The general contractor presented various designs and samples to the owner, and I also offered him my design ideas. Having acquired experience working with other designers during my travels allowed me to design a casing that adequately matched the antique doors, which Don loved. He elected to go forward with my recommendations, and being a wood craftsman that I am, my mission was to transform the new wood used to build the casing to adequately resemble the weathered wood of the antique doors, thus not detracting from their value. I therefore proceeded to work the brand new wood of the casing to give it the same aspect as the aged and battered wood of the antique doors. The result was that the casing matched the doors perfectly, so that the entire wine cellar entrance looked as if it was built in the same era. The client was happy and considered it a unique work of art. He's the only one in the world with these wine cellar doors, and you can find a photo of them on the builder's website. I was the only one to take a picture of these doors in the owner's presence due to the exclusivity of the work . . . I really value this experience that presented itself in my career path.— Fernando Gonzalez