Custom Stairs
 There are few things more elegant than an historically correct custom staircase. In this Brookline mansion, a previous owner had removed the first flight of stairs to make the house into a two-family, and he threw away all the beautifully turned and carved 19th century stair parts! When we were called in, we had no idea what the original newel posts looked like, but fortunately the house next door had been constructed by the same builder, so we were able to photograph those. They are called “Bishop’s Miter Caps”, because they are similar to the ceremonial headgear worn in the Catholic Church.
We had no trouble making the balusters and rails, but when it came to duplicating the spool work on the corners of the posts, we couldn’t find a wood turner in Boston with a lathe that was short enough. (You can’t make something that thin three feet long, it will just fly off the machine.) Luckily, I was able to find a toy maker in Amherst, MA with a miniature lathe, and he made what we needed in six inch sections. |
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This custom balustrade in the Back Bay presented an unusual challenge: how to get the rail to turn and descend at the same time. If you look carefully, you’ll see some creative mitre work by one of our carpenters that’s really ingenious. |
| This is one of the Brockway Smith Company’s stock stairs, in maple,which leads to a gorgeous South End Townhouse roof deck. Although a custom stair is always preferable, sometimes one can find a stock stair which is perfectly acceptable, and perfectly affordable. |  |
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Fir Handrail: Doug fir makes a nice material for handrails, this one is very simple, and quite elegant. |
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These are all “stock” stair parts from Brockway Smith, although we frequently make custom parts, as in the staircase you see next. It’s hard to find decent looking newell posts and balusters, it seems the designers of these items never really studied the real thing very carefully. But we found these to be perfectly acceptable. It’s nice too on a stair like this one, to add a custom wainscot and chair rail. |
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This stair was all custom white oak, a difficult material to work. the paneled doors on the left actually offer access to much needed storage. the entire South End is storage poor. |
