The Graycliff Estate, perched on the edge of Lake Erie was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Isabelle and Darwin Martin in 1926-31. When the Graycliff Conservancy wanted to replicate a long lost and defining piece of furniture for the estate Pat Mahoney reached out to Stafford Norris III.

The nine-foot long library shelving unit is a room divider between the living room and the fern room. To match the interior wood it is fashioned in old growth, red tidewater cypress. The unit was constructed and delivered just in time for the 150th celebration of Wright’s birth in early June 2017.

Learn more about the restoration at Graycliff: Wright on the Lake, http://graycliffestate.org

Steve Sikora and Lynette Erickson-Sikora, owners of the Willey House noticed that in the recently restored, Taliesin bedroom of Olgivanna Lloyd Wright a placeholder desk made of particle board stood in as a placeholder for a piece of furniture that would complete the picture of the room. When a year later a suitable replacement desk was still in need, they offered to donate one and commissioned Stafford Norris III to construct it.

Stafford worked with Ryan Hewson at Taliesin Preservation, Inc to determine the final dimensions, construction details and features of the lost desk based on historical photographs. On April 21st 2017 the replica writing desk made of old-growth tidewater cypress was delivered to Olgivanna’s bedroom at Taliesin. The completed bedroom is but one of the numerous preservation victories recently completed at Taliesin, Spring Green. 

Steve Sikora and Lynette Erickson-Sikora, owners of the Willey House noticed that in the recently restored, Taliesin bedroom of Olgivanna Lloyd Wright a placeholder desk made of particle board stood in as a placeholder for a piece of furniture that would complete the picture of the room. When a year later a suitable replacement desk was still in need, they offered to donate one and commissioned Stafford Norris III to construct it.

Stafford worked with Ryan Hewson at Taliesin Preservation, Inc to determine the final dimensions, construction details and features of the lost desk based on historical photographs. On April 21st 2017 the replica writing desk made of old-growth tidewater cypress was delivered to Olgivanna’s bedroom at Taliesin. The completed bedroom is but one of the numerous preservation victories recently completed at Taliesin, Spring Green.

During the process of recreating Olgivanna’s writing desk a full-scale prototype of cherry wood was built to test fit into her Taliesin bedroom and compare with photographic evidence. The prototype of this one-of-a-kind desk will be auctioned off in fall 2017 to support the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

When Eric O’Malley from Organic Architecture + Design Archives proposed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation that the Call Building Model be recreated and returned to Taliesin, he turned to Stafford Norris III to build the replica. Together they travelled to NYC to study and measure the original, now housed in MOMA’s archives. The model was prototyped and built in Minneapolis, then transported in pieces to Taliesin for final assembly. It was completed and installed on the bridge at the Hillside complex where the original stood for decades to the delight of thousands of visitors. It was necessary, during assembly to work around tour groups and already, during the two-day installation; the model was spontaneously reintegrated into the tour guides scripts. The completed model was officially unveiled at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 149th Birthday Celebration.

This series of photos shows the full-scale prototype that Stafford built to finalize proportions and test verify the support structure.

When Eric O’Malley from Organic Architecture + Design Archives proposed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation that the Call Building Model be recreated and returned to Taliesin, he turned to Stafford Norris III to build the replica. Together they travelled to NYC to study and measure the original, now housed in MOMA’s archives. The model was prototyped and built in Minneapolis, then transported in pieces to Taliesin for final assembly. It was completed and installed on the bridge at the Hillside complex where the original stood for decades to the delight of thousands of visitors. It was necessary, during assembly to work around tour groups and already, during the two-day installation; the model was spontaneously reintegrated into the tour guides scripts. The completed model was officially unveiled at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 149th Birthday Celebration.

This series of photos shows the final model under contruction in the shop.

When Eric O’Malley from Organic Architecture + Design Archives proposed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation that the Call Building Model be recreated and returned to Taliesin, he turned to Stafford Norris III to build the replica. Together they travelled to NYC to study and measure the original, now housed in MOMA’s archives. The model was prototyped and built in Minneapolis, then transported in pieces to Taliesin for final assembly. It was completed and installed on the bridge at the Hillside complex where the original stood for decades to the delight of thousands of visitors. It was necessary, during assembly to work around tour groups and already, during the two-day installation; the model was spontaneously reintegrated into the tour guides scripts. The completed model was officially unveiled at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 149th Birthday Celebration.

This series of photos shows the installation at Hillside.

The 1946, Frank Lloyd Wright designed Alvin Miller House, in Charles City Iowa was severely damaged in the flood of 2008. The house had taken on over 3 feet of water from the swollen, neighboring Cedar River during the flood, and it wasn’t the first time the house suffered severe water damage. All neighboring properties had been condemned by the city and The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy was greatly concerned about the future of the house. Salvation came in the guise of Paul and Jeanette Griffin who learned of the house and intervened to save it. Stafford was hired to conserve the original furnishings for the house as well as complete elements of its restoration.

The photos show one of the dining chairs he replicated.

The shelving arrangement and built-in headboards were recreated from the original house plans.

New owners of the 1948 (completed in 1951), Frank Lloyd Wright designed Jack Lamberson house in Oskaloosa, Iowa selected Stafford to restore many aspects of the house that had fallen into disrepair or been modified over the years.

Shown here are photos of shelves, beds and built-in as they were being restored to the house.

New owners of the 1948 (completed in 1951), Frank Lloyd Wright designed Jack Lamberson house in Oskaloosa, Iowa selected Stafford to restore many aspects of the house that had fallen into disrepair or been modified over the years.

Shown here are before and after photos of the restored to original kitchen.

The original open fireplace was bricked in and fitted with a gas fireplace insert by an earlier owner. Brick walls that supported the gas insert were taken down, the original opening restored and a custom steel firegrate created and installed.

New owners of the 1948 (completed in 1951), Frank Lloyd Wright designed Jack Lamberson house in Oskaloosa, Iowa selected Stafford to restore many aspects of the house that had fallen into disrepair or been modified over the years.

Shown here are reconstructed origami chairs and tables that were original to the house.

The restoration of the 1934, Frank Lloyd Wright designed Willey House began in 2002. Stafford, initially alone and later with assistance from his brother, executed all aspects of the historic restoration. In addition to his own craftsmanship, he was charged with identifying and managing the few outside services that were used during the five and one half year process.

Without a doubt the Willey House kitchen is the most important room in the house. It is in this house that Wright first adapted his thinking to understand designing for the needs of the middle class, and in this room the first open plan kitchen. The concept of a kitchen plainly visible from the living/dining room was a shocking development and a direct response to Nancy Willey’s responsibilities as supportive role as host and entertainer to her husband Malcolm who was climbing the academic ladder at the University of Minnesota. The open kitchen has long since become the most commonplace feature of modern, casual living, but it originated here. The only problem was that the original Willey House kitchen has undergone a total remodel in the 1970s. Using vintage photos, Wright’s plans and the salvaged parts of the cabinet carcasses that were fortunately saved in the garage, the kitchen was returned to its original glory.

A leak at the chimney caused the roof framing to fail where rafters were slotted into the brick masonry. This same leak funneled water all the down the roof slope to where it was deposited above the low, flat entryway ceiling causing the plaster to fall off. The French doors were rotted. The steel grates over the radiator pits collapsed, the raditors were gone. The galvanized steel skylights were perforated and rusted through, glass panes missing, some replaced by plywood, the outside trellis was slumping by about 3 ½ inches and the vertical supports that held the trellis cantilever up had long ago wicked water giving way to rot. All this and more is what the condition of the Willey House living room

Nancy Willey told Wright that their budget would allow them to complete the dining room furniture, but they would need to wait on furnishing the study and bedrooms until more “money came rolling uphill”. Three slightly different drawings of the study turned up in research. One of them progressed as far as blueprint stage before work in that wing was halted. That is the plan used to execute Malcolm’s study nearly 70 years after it was designed.

The bathroom was another room in the house that had undergone a severe mid-seventies renovation. Because it needed to be gutted down to the studs the original color tinted plaster, and cement plaster in the shower surround were brought back. The original tub was re-enamelled, the faucet sets replated, missing sink and toilet replaced with matching units. Then, the wraparound shelf, radiator enclosure and vanity completed the Willey House bathroom as originally intended.

A large, asymmetrical, plaster room with ceiling banding is what the Willey House master bedroom was spanning three generations of owners. But the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation held plans that told a different story. A long, horizontal shelf that wraps the corner of the room, a radiator cover that becomes a padded seat, the cypress paneled headboard and the distinctive bedside tables make this room a beautiful, warm and luxurious master bedroom. Most rooms in the house utilize brick flooring, identical to that used on the walls and terraces. But like the guest bedroom, the floors are wide cypress plank flooring. Both floors were removed, planed and relaid.

The Taliesin table lamps in the Willey House are all custom made of old growth, red tidewater cypress.

The pole lamps are constructed in the same manner as those in the living room at Taliesin, with exposed plywood edges on the reflectors , cut channel for the wiring and Bakelite sockets. The pole lamps are made of old growth, red tidewater cypress.

The second owners of the Willey House had original the plans (with a hand-written note from Wright) for two sizes of this red leather ottoman.

The plans for the Willey House beverage cart turned up along with a trove of others, in an archive belonging to John Howe.  The cart was clearly designed some years after the completion of the house but has a swing up extension that clearly mirrors the shape of the hidden, recessed light covers in the living room skylights.

All of the original furniture built for the house is intact, including the dining table, which can be extended when paired with the movable end table. An extra set of dining table/end tables was created for the house while the originals were on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

These cypress slab, bedside tables are unlike anything Wright had done before. These feature red lacquered "breakfast trays" that slide out.

The small side tables (similar to the tables used in the livingroom at Taliesin) were mentioned many times in the correspondence between Nancy Wiley and Taliesin. At one point they were going to be made at Taliesin West in another instance, a shop in Milwaukee was going to build them for $12.50 a piece. In any case, they were never built until 2008.

The firegrate, curtain rods, towel racks, planter box trellises as well as countless invisible brackets and shelf supports were made by Stafford and brother Josh Norris.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s American System-Built Home, Model B1 located at 2714 West Burnham, in Milwaukee was acquired by Wright in Wisconsin along with several of the other examples on Burnham.

Wright in Wisconsin commissioned Stafford to build a pair of strait, spindle back dining chairs to accompany a pre-existing dining table.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s American System-Built Home, Model B1 located at 2714 West Burnham, in Milwaukee was acquired by Wright in Wisconsin along with several of the other examples on Burnham.

Wright in Wisconsin commissioned Stafford to build a barrel chair from a rendering they found in researching the American System-Built houses. The chair is made of gum wood as are the other furnishings in the house.

The owner of a John Howe designed house commissioned Stafford to replicate some of his furniture. Howe's interpretation of the origami chair is wider and proportionally different from Wright's.

The owner of a John Howe designed house commissioned Stafford to replicate some of his furniture. These interlocking hexagonal tales are among the work that was done.

Stafford can fabricate or coordinate custom metalwork for all applications, indoors and out.

This white lacquered cabinet was done to specification for an interior designer.

This De Stijl classic was commissioned as a silent auction item for an institutional fund raiser.