Adding to the Craftsman Tradition

Two pairs of built-in closet doors were designed for collectors of Craftsman-style furniture. The panels of these doors were split and bookmatched, so the irregular line of each split is mirrored in the mating panel.

The closet doors, built in 1994, inspired a houseful of woodwork recently designed and built in the studio of Peter Murkett for a residential renovation in the Craftsman style by Frank Garretson, AIA. The work of Gustav Stickley, Harvey Ellis, and others inspired plans for more than fifty interior doors of quartersawn white oak with a variety of carved, split, and pierced panels; an inglenook bench with carved panels; a high-backed, freestanding bench with leather upholstered seat cushion; and a bookcase with leaded glass doors.

Library Tables at Bloomfield College

Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey, commissioned twenty-five tables for its new library, based on a concept by Christine Toupin, AIA. The tables are solid cherry throughout, supplied by Kane Hardwood, of Kane, Pennsylvania, lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to be the product of sustained-yield forestry practices.

A bolted trestle base holds the table rigid, while allowing easy disassembly. We designed a recessed square washer to receive the square-headed bolts, an element which is also a visual feature of the design. Voice and data computer connections were let into the tabletops, with wiring concealed in the trestle base.

This Bloomfield library table was a winner of the Collinswood Millennium Awards for environmentally responsible design in 2000.


CLOSET DOORS | INTERIOR DOORS | INGLENOOK BENCH | SPLIT PANEL DOORS
FLAT PANEL DOORS | HIGH-BACK BENCH | BOOKCASE | LIBRARY TABLE