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The University of Southern California -Doheny Library- Leaded Glass Window Restoration

    

Two years ago we restored the front windows of the Doheny Library at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The Doheny library was built in 1931 by Edward Doheny. Edward Doheny was the first person to discover and produce oil in Los Angeles. At one point he was the richest man in America. The library was built to memorialize his son Edward (Ned) L. Doheny Jr. who was killed in 1929. The library was built at a cost of $ 1.1 million.

                                             
     A major portion of this years project is The Los Angeles Times reference Room. The room as 23 leaded glass windows that are approximately 3' wide and 16' tall. They are comprised of 4 section each in a steel frame. The glass as all hand blown German glass.Originally the glass was a pale amber color, but over time the glass changed color because of a magnesium imbalance. This causes the glass to turn a rose color which with the underlying amber shows as beige. It is actually a very pretty color.

                                            
   This same effect of color change can be seen in what has been called "Desert Glass". Desert glass refers to clear glass bottles that when stored on roof tops in the desert (typically Arizona, or Southern California) turns rose or purple over time. It is sometimes called "sun colored amethyst glass".

                    
     The windows are in poor condition with cracks in the lead came, dried up glazing, broken pieces, and sagging. They needed total restoration. We worked with K.C. Restoration on this project just as we did two years ago when we restored the front windows. We have also worked with K.C. on the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and the Tower Theater among others. K.C. removed, and installed the windows. We soaked the windows in vats of water to loosen the old putty, and contain the old putty dust(which contains asbestos). In this case it also made removing the old solar/UV film that had been applied to the glass much easier.

                                                       
         After the bath we disassembled the windows, cleaned the glass, and leaded them up with new lead came. Staying with the original lead choice, we used 5/8" H flat lead on the border and 1/2" H flat lead in the body. We added them up, soldered the joints and used Atlas "Wonder"putty to glaze.

                                
          The reinforcing bars are solid brass rods with a flared end the flared ends are set behind the steel sash styles to lock in the windows. As with most pre 1930's windows the bars are attached to the windows with copper wire. We used 16 gauge bare copper wire that was soldered to the joints of the windows and then twisted around the bars.

                                        

                                             The windows are installed in steel frames with screw in steel moldings.

                                                                      
                                                                   Exterior sealant still needs some cleaning up
                                                                       Now on to the rest of the windows

 

First Baptist Church of Los Angeles Stained Glass Restoration

                                                               

   The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles is a magnificent church. The church is located at 760 S.Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles. The present location was built in 1927. It's magnificent sanctuary ceiling was patterned after the chapel of the Ducal Palace in Mantova, Italy. It seats 1,950 and is one of the most beautiful in Los Angeles.The 1980s brought to FBC a designation by the City of Los Angeles as Historic Cultural Monument No. 237 in 1981, and FBC hosted the Baptist World Alliance in 1986 where former president Jimmy Carter spoke.

     Part of the church is the Moore Prayer Chapel. It is a relatively small chapel with two beautiful stained glass windows each of which is 32" x 72" tall. The windows are predominantly blue being composed of various shades. The windows are etched and painted. The use of both hand blown glass and machine made cathedral glass is marvelous. Some of the glass is variegated (streaky clear and blue glass) with black painting in a flowing design. As often happens, the reason we were called is because of vandalism to the windows. Unfortunately both windows were broken in at the lower of two panels.

            
            

           Before Restoration                                                                   Completed Restoration                                                      

                                                                                                                  

     We were able to find exact replacement glass (Lambert antique for the hand blown, and Kokomo variegated for the cathedral). Our fabulous painter, Mary Orrell, did a fantastic job in replicating the original artists work, and both Alberto Marquez, and Armando Aleman performed their usual magic. I could not tell the restoration from the original, and yes the church was thrilled. Now we will be installing protective glazing on the exterior. This will be 1/4" clear tempered glass installed with circulation vents at the top and bottom to prevent any heat damage to the stained glass.

La Casa De Maria- Montecito, California

    

                                                                  
          

Toward the end of February 2018 I was contacted by a representative from La Casa De Maria in Montecito, CA. You may recall that the exclusive enclave of Montecito, just South of Santa Barbara, was hit by ravaging mudslides. La Casa De Maria was originally built in the mid 1950's. The 26 acre estate , in addition to its magnificent home, has a Spanish style Catholic Church that was built in 1955.  The church eventually became a retreat center for the Catholic Archdiocese, and years later changed to be a multi denominational retreat. The mud slides brought disaster to La Casa De Maria. What was once a beautifully landscaped wooded retreat was not chocked with tones, and tons of mud and rock. The San Yisedro Creek had been forced to overflow from the washed down boulders. The resultant flood washed not only mud, but giant boulders for miles. Many smashing into cars. trees, homes, and other buildings. The slides caused at least 22 deaths.

                                                               

      I was asked to come up to Montecito to give a proposal to remove a stained glass window from the La Casa De Maria Church, restore, crate, and store it until restoration of the church was completed. When I arrived I as astonished at the size of the catastrophe. The lush vegetation that had been there was gone, mud and boulders were everywhere you looked. In areas there were huge mounds of dirt, concrete, boulders, and building materials that were the aftermath of the floods, and slides. In some cases entire buildings were gone.

     I was accompanied to the church where I noticed an eight foot and 5 foot boulder that had slammed into the side of the church. The resultant collision had fractured a 12" x 8" beam that was supporting the windows from below. There was a hole in the building that was about eight feet across, and, I was told, led to 24 large boulders and three feet of mud being deposited in the church. The mud and boulders had been cleaned out, but the shock of the collision from the giant boulder had caused the ceiling timbers to shift. We had to remove the stained glass window( approximately 3' x 11') directly above the hole so that the walls could be rebuilt, and the ceiling timbers restored.

   

     The nine stained glass windows are magnificent. Originally fabricated in Ireland they have very vibrant colors and have a modern feel to their design. I completed my inspection, returned to the studio, and drafted my proposal( which included all necessary work on all windows), and emailed it. It will be at least a year before the restoration work on the church structure is complete. The administrator shortly there after informed me that they would like me to proceed. Since they were in as hurry to start, and couldn't do anything until we removed the window we went up the following week. We removed, crated, and transported the four sections of the window back to Santa Monica.

     I'll follow up in a later blog with the progression of our work, and also that of La Casa De Maria.

 
                                                            
                                                                

Historic Rubel Castle Art Glass Restoration

                                                                                   

 

Broken Painted Glass Pane

                                                                                  

  Last May 2017, during the Annual Glendale California Historical Society Restoration Expo I was contacted by a member of the Glendora Historical Society about restoring one of their art glass windows. Shortly after that I was sent images of the windows, and of the broken pane. I responded, then about 6 months later I was again contacted and updated the proposed work. Soon after we were contracted to reproduce the broken painted glass pane.

     First, something about the historic Rubel Castle.

    

Rubel Castle (also known as Rubelia), officially Rubel Pharms and Castle, was established in Glendora, California, by Michael Clarke Rubel (April 16, 1940 – October 15, 2007), and is currently owned and operated by the Glendora Historical Society.^[2] It has been called "a San Gabriel Valley version of Watts Towers.”^[3]

Rubel purchased a 2½ acre citrus orchard on which the structure resides in 1959. He and his friends completed construction in 1986. Rubelia is considered the first major recycling project in the United States.^{[4][page needed][clarification needed]}

Rubel Castle was constructed partly out of concrete but also out of scrap steel, rocks, bedsprings, coat hangers, bottles, and other re-purposed materials that Rubel found.

 

Michael Rubel on his porch, 2000.

In 1959, Rubel bargained for the defunct Albourne Rancho property and took up residence in the huge citrus packing house, which he renamed “Rubel Pharm.” Rubel's father, Henry "Heinz" Scott Rubel, had been an Episcopalian minister and gag writer for radio comedians.^[3] In the 1960s, Rubel’s mother, one-time Greenwich Village Follies dancer^[5] Dorothy Deuel Rubel, moved into the packing house with her son. At 200 feet (61 m) long it was the perfect venue for her favorite hobby: parties. Well-dressed guests arrived weekly by the hundreds, strolling past old tractors, horses, poultry, buggies, and the gritty accouterments of the bucolic rancho period, to arrive inside a tin fruit packing house transformed into a giant dance hall. Inside, surrounded by art and antique furniture remaining from Rubel ancestors, they mingled in the smudge oil and orange blossom atmosphere and danced to a small orchestra.

Sally Rand, the silent screen actress and fan dancer, famous since the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, never missed Dorothy Rubel’s parties, which were so extravagant that the packing house became known as “The Tin Palace.” Other people of note who came to the Tin Palace in those days include Dwight Eisenhower, the Duncan Sisters, Woody Strode, Beatrice Kay, Harry Townes, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Kid Chissell, Angie Dickinson, and Alfred Hitchcock. Fellow castle builder "Colonel" Jirayr Zorthian was a supporter and friend.

Construction of the castle

Though Rubel slept in one of the giant citrus refrigerators, the walls of thick cork were not sufficient sound insulation to allow him peace from his mother’s parties. Beginning in 1968, Rubel began building a small get-away house in the empty old 1,000,000 gallon concrete reservoir, using cement and discarded champagne bottles.^[6] The walls of the reservoir provided privacy and a noise barrier while he built the bottle house. The project lasted twenty years, culminating in what is now called the Rubel Castle.

He began adding material to an existing metal water tower.^[7] With the encouragement of old timers like Odo Stade, and with the help of many friends and relations, the castle grew to be thousands of square feet with towers five stories high. Rubel and his associates built the structure without architectural plans, utilizing salvaged river rock, cement, steel, aluminum, telephone poles and wine bottles.^[3] Old motorcycles, tires, sand-filled rubber gloves, a camera, a golf club and a toaster are some of the items that protrude from the castle.^[3]

A restored 1911 Seth Thomas clock works runs the brass bells and clock that crown one of the high towers, which is 74 feet (23 m) high. In the middle of the property sit a 1940s-era Santa Fe caboose, as well as old trucks and tractors. There is also a cemetery with rejected marble tombstones (but no graves).^[3]

In addition, “chickens are abundant and love this property as well as frequent animal visitors.”^[7]

Legacy

Over the decades, Rubel Castle has instilled a work ethic in hundreds of young people and stands as a celebration of the independent spirit. Huell Howser interviewed Rubel for Videolog in 1990.^[8]

Like a true castle, it has hosted royalty including Prince Philip. Some other notable guests have been Henry Kissinger, the Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, and Governor George Deukmejian.

     Our work was to duplicate the broken painted panel. In this case the windows were painted about 1965. As they were painted in place on the existing glass they couldn't use traditional stained glass paint. I removed the broken pieces from the old packing plant, and had my exceptionally gifted painter Mary Orrell  investigate to determine exactly what type of paint was used. Mary discovered that it was a combination of flat enamel and acrylic paints.

                                                           

Broken Painted Glass Pane

Recreated Pained Glass Pane

                                                            

                                                                          

Complete Window note center bottom pane

                                                             

     Using the broken pieces which we taped together, and a black and white photo of the original artwork Mary was able to recreate the pane. The pain was about 12" x 18". We installed the replacement glass and returned the broken taped pieces to the Society.Given that much of the bottom portion of the glass was missing it was a bit of a chore, but Mary did a fantastic job. Some of the challenge was trying to match the wear on the paint after over 50 years of cleaning and who knows what. You can see from the images that the end result was a success. Thanks Mary.

In March 2005, Rubel donated the Castle to the Glendora Historical Society.

Many television programs, music videos, and movies have been filmed on castle grounds, including NBC's Heroes and T-mobile's Frankenstein commercial.

Rubel Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.^[9]