Holly

The Hamptons are infamous for beautiful vacation homes by the beach. Many people dream of owning one of these properties… And others dream of designing one. Personally, I’m not quite sure which would be better - Maybe if I could design my own? Recently we were given the opportunity to add our own personal touch to one. Unfortunately the home wasn’t ours, but now this residence in the South Hamptons has a little piece of CLP Design… actually, a few pretty big pieces. And we’re not even finished yet.

First we got to build and install one of our slip-cast, zinc bar-tops.


This 12′ x 4′ L shaped bar top incorporates a drink rail and has a rich patina with a beaded edge detail. When I own my own home in the Hamptons, you can bet I’ll have one of these. The antiqued feel of the bar adds to the historical value of the piece. Isn’t that what’s most special about these bars? They ARE beautiful, but also an amazing piece of history and a reminder of simpler days.
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Chris

Earlier in the year, we worked on a zinc bar for the Potenza, a rustic southern Italian themed restaurant and bar in downtown Washington, DC. Early this morning, we stopped back in to inspect how the surface was holding and look at a few areas which will need touch-up. Of course I took the time to snap some pictures!

The Potenza is located in the Woodward Building at 15th and H St, NW. The latest venture from Stir Food Group, who also run the acclaimed Zola Restaurant a few blocks away, the Potenza serves breads, pastas, wine, and desserts in a comfortable setting. From the restaurant’s web site:

Prepare yourself for a place steeped in tradition, comfort and warmth. Located in the historic Woodward Building, architectural details are preserved, incorporated into a space that houses an active open kitchen. It’s a feeling of old world detail that you might expect to find in Foggia, Italy.

The combination of old world charm and exquisite dining draws you into the surroundings and energy of the inviting room, the unique food and the matchless service.

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Chris

We just got photos back from a couple more early slip-cast countertop projects. Time for Show and Tell!

This first job was very simple, a straightforward seven foot long slab of cast zinc to be used as the front bar in a basement den. This was the very first slip-cast counter we sold, and it looks beautiful! The homeowners had actually already ordered a top bar from their granite manufacturer, which they cancelled after seeing our samples and hearing the story of the process — hows that for a great client satisfaction story?

While our bar was fairly simple, we think that it integrated perfectly into the surroundings. We didn’t do the installation, so these photos were the first we actually saw of the completed room. The barrel stave stools and pendant lighting from Napa Style really help bring everything together, too. Beautiful use of metal as an accent material.

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Chris

Here’s a project we finished last week. Jay and Connie Lowe, probably our favorite clients ever, had been talking about remodeling their sitting room addition for some time. Originally intended to be a year-long project, their plans had to be hastened after they agreed to host a fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. Like most of their work, this remodel started with a couple of found antiques—in this case, an 8 foot wide gold-leafed fireplace mantle which they cut to fit their existing fireplace, a pair of massive wood corbels which were used as the base for the bar, and a large display case which Connie added mirrors to and antiqued with similar gold leafing.

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Chris

Here’s some pictures of one of our first slip-cast pewter countertops, installed in a beautiful lakeside house in the Poconos. This counter features an embossed steel banding with a running floral pattern, stabilized and slip-cast with a veneer of patinated pewter. The top was polished back to a smooth finish, leaving only hints of the original distressing. We applied a blackening patina to the edge detail.

For this kitchen, designed around the blue granite used for counters and a black/white cabinetry and appliance theme, pewter was really the only choice for the island top. The cool tones of the lightly patinated pewter kept within the bluish theme of counters, backsplash, and walls. And the large metal island top balanced out the selection of materials—with any other choice, the stone surfaces and wood cabinets would be out of balance. And finally, the open floorplan and natural lighting really allowed the counter to shine in the sunlight.

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Chris

Its been a busy month for us. These pictures are from a zinc counter we installed in the historic Woodward building in DC. We were working down there during inauguration madness templating and measuring, then had to rush to finish the counter in less than three weeks from the time the subtop was ready. Our part came out pretty decent, with the exception of a few corners where some contractor went in after us and ground our patina work to pieces - maybe thinking he was doing something helpful…?

Next week, we’ll be in Manhattan installing a giant hood at the Muse Hotel in Times Square. Pictures to come…

Chris

This 72″ wide, 35″ tall Cézanne frame was outfitted with dual Vent-a-Hood B200 motors for serious customizable extraction power. But the power inside is well hidden by the exterior beauty. Our Hanging Gardens pattern extends over the entire body, with a Fleur-de-Lis lip treatment below and a custom metal crown at the ceiling.

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Chris

As part of this blog, occasionally we’ll let you in on a few secrets of our work. This is a breakdown of what is entailed in our hand-hammered copper, which we use on countertops, backsplashes, and range hoods.

The entire process begins with a set of customized hammers like this one. Although it may look like an implement of torture, this is actually a standard peening hammer, which we gave a bit of extra texture by melting a pattern onto the tip with some silver solder. These textures wear out fairly quickly when you’re working on a large job, so we typically start hammering with one pattern, then come back with a different texture head to give the surface the variety we look for in hand hammering.

This counter is very small, just a 24″ section for display, so we’re doing the whole thing with one pass:

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