Millwork by Brent Hull
Isn't This Beautiful? Recently I toured this 1930s era home in Ft. Worth being redone by Brent Hull of Hull Historical, who's really an amazing guy. Hull grew up in Dallas, went to St. Marks, then got a degree in preservation carpentry from the famed North Bennett Street School in Boston. Brent Hull has reproduced interior architecture for some important buildings, not the least of which is Winterthur, the Delaware grand country estate of Henry Francis Dupont. Winterthur is important because it houses historic architecture salvages collected from all thirteen original colonies, as well as American halls, rooms, alcoves, stairwells, and facades from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Brent Hull is the only person licensed to reproduce Winterthur's interior architecture, and so some of his lucky clients, including the owners of this Ft. Worth house, have some of the world's most famous millwork in their houses.
Millwork by Brent Hull
This room is reproduced from the millwork found in Winterthur.
Millwork by Brent Hull
Barbara Striesand, a huge fan of Winterthur, hired Brent Hull to consult and create some millwork on her a few years ago when she was building a house in California. Striesand wrote the foreword to Hull's new book, Traditional American Rooms, a signed and numbered limited edition Winterthur Style Sourcebook.
Even these beautiful nickel door knobs are historically accurate.
The house's Colonial Revival style was renovated by Brent Hull.
Here's Brent Hull's company in Fort Worth, located in a renovated warehouse
Every where I looked there were beautiful vignettes of carved millwork like this to photograph.
Brent Hull's bookshelves contain about 2,000 old books on historic millwork, and it's what he uses to recreate beautiful millwork in clients' houses. Some books go back to the 1700s.
Brent Hull does his own sketches.
This wine rack is being made for the 30s era house we visited. Everything Brent Hull makes is an heirloom done the old fashioned way, with techniques that are almost lost to history.
For instance, the wood is joined with pegs just as they would have done it hundreds of years ago.
Here Brent Hull is remaking an old front door for someone in Dallas, using the original hardware.
These are knife heads -- there are hundreds of them. Each was designed by Hull Historical and made to carve a specific kind of piece.
Brent Hull uses eco-friendly Ipe wood on the base of all outdoor columns to keep them from rotting.
It's hard to understand the beauty of these pieces until you get to hold them in your hand and feel the weight, and see just how painstakingly they're carved and joined. I bet Brent Hull would give you a tour of the place, just like he did for me, if you ask.
If you go, get a hamburger later here. Best one I've ever had.
