Hardware - Jewelry for the Home

Hardware in our homes is a type of jewelry to me. Just as our bracelets or our rings finish off our outfits, so do our door levers, hinges, and cabinet pulls. Beautiful hardware (along with beautiful lighting) is the finishing touch in a home. It helps anchor the spaces and adds depth to the style.

Vincenzo Taormina - Onde Collection, stainless steel with tension setting (picture right)

I have been thinking about door lever styles for a project and thought I would share some of my favorites that I have seen. The pictures run the range of styles but, I think, all have a great design quality about them. You may notice that I am a little bored with the swooping levers - none in the pics.


If you were building new or renovating - which would you select? Personally, I would LOVE to re-do all of my very tired hardware in our 84 year old home.


...then there is always the question of what would be appropriate for my craftsman style home and...which one just makes my heart sing when I see it...not necessarily the same thing.

Your favorite??

Nanz - 2006 Bahaus Style

Nanz - 2082 Modern Lever

PE Guerin Products - Plexiglas Lever

Nanz - 2079 Mid-Century Lever

Urban Archeology Lever

Rocky Mountain - Olympus Lever

Sun Valley Bronze - Square Lever

Nanz - 2018 Edwardian Lever

Nanz - 2180 Bamboo Lever

PE Guerin - Nugget Lever

Rocky Mountain - Acanthus Lever

Rocky Mountain - French Twist

Sun Valley Bronze - Twist Lever

Rocky Mountain - Pool Lever

Sun Valley Bronze - Aspen Lever

Cleveland Sacred Architecture Tour - Two Churches

This past Saturday The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America hosted tours of Cleveland Sacred Architecture featuring two architecturally significant Cleveland Catholic churches, St. Coleman and St. Stephen, located on Cleveland's near West Side. The tour was especially poignant as it was recently announced that St. Coleman's is slated to be closed in 2010.

St. Coleman Catholic Church (pictured left) was built in 1918 by second-generation immigrant families to serve the growing Irish immigrant population of Cleveland's West Side. St. Coleman's soaring twin bell towers and limestone facade with massive Corinthian columns is located at 2027 W. 65Th Street, Cleveland, Ohio.

The first stop on our tour architectural tour was St. Coleman's Church. It was a beautiful sunny day and the light shone through the leaded glass windows. Perfect!

Winged statue at front entrance of St. Coleman's.

photo by Steven Litt/Plain Dealer

The amazing marble Altars and Statues were brought here from Italy, while the Baptismal Font, Pulpit, and Communion Rail where imported from Dublin.

Marble Altar

Magnificent detail in the crown/capitols and statuary dividing leaded glass windows.

Example of the interior detail.

One of the "Stations of the Cross" framed in marble.

Detail shot of one of the "Stations of the Cross" located around the church.





Elaborate trompe l'oeil painting with jewels.




Exquisite detail and painting.

More trompe l'oeil and leaded glass window.

St. Stephen's Catholic Church

St. Stephen's was constructed in 1881 to serve the German-speaking Catholics living west of W. 44Th Street. The massive Gothic style church is built entirely of stone in the shape of a cross with soaring 75 feet high ceilings.

The altars and statues were carved from oak and were primarily imported from Munich, Germany in 1893.

The cathedral-style windows with deep colors and fine renderings of figures, plants, and architecture, were imported from Munich, Germany in 1906.

What beautiful detail!!

Amazing wood carving from Munich!

I was completely unaware that we had these jewels in our city. After viewing these magnificent churches on Saturday, I find the news of St. Coleman's closing and the potential loss of this wonderful architecture in Cleveland sad.

On a bright note, these churches are just a tiny portion of the outstanding architecture Cleveland has to offered and I am looking forward to joining The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America on future tours around town - with camera at the ready.

Hope that you enjoyed the post. Please let me know what you think about these Cleveland jems.