The Artful Staircase
French style spiral staircase, David Copley home, La Jolla, CA. English brown oak and hand-forged iron work.
One of the types of work I find so interesting is designing and building staircases. There are few architectural components of the interior of a house that can add so much grace and elegance as you first walk into a home than an artful staircase. The sculptural beauty can be magnificent if designed and executed by an artist/craftsman. On the other hand, when put together with standard parts by a stair installer, the effect can be uninspiring and mundane.
The staircase lends itself to use a combination of different woods, metals, and glass, whether it's a carved masterpiece or the contemporary yet eloquent beauty of curved glass, wood treads, and balusters in iron or metal. I love combining different materials as I feel it makes a much more interesting piece. I use a combination of steam-bent and laminate-bent woods, metal forging, metal forming, metal casting, laminate bent glass and tempered glass techniques, along with both wood and glass carving.
Staircases can lead to all sorts of interesting rooms and places in the home. Why not make the climb on a thing of beauty!
Guard rail for Copley staircase, hand-forged iron and English brown oak handrail.
Cherry and ebony with 24 carat gold leaf detailed carvings with tempered glass. Del Mar, CA
Handcarved tread details in solid cherry, Del Mar, CA.
Italian style spiral staircase in butternut. La Jolla, CA
Italian style spiral staircase in butternut. La Jolla, CA
Bent glass and cherry handrail with ebony details.
Chinese style mahogany staircase handcarved forest scene with deer, Hollywood, CA
Polynesian style staircase in mahogany, handcarved balusters. San Diego, CA
White oak staircase with freeform reeds in a natural style, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
