Houghtons of York - Houghtons of York - Bespoke Joiners & Carpenters, York.

Mull of Kintyre refurbishment

14/2/2020

Houghtons were appointed as main contractor for an interesting renovation project in the west coast of Scotland. Cul Na Shee, a Landmark Trust property is located in the small village of Saddell, Kintyre, about a 25 minute drive from Campbletown. The only access is through a narrow archway at Saddell Castle followed by a rough track, and finally a 60m walk along a picturesque gravel beach.

Whilst this makes for a lovey approach to the property it made delivery of materials to site a rather tricky process with large delivery trucks needing to be unloaded into a small van for the track before being carried by hand along the beach.

The trust had a bat survey completed as they were known to use the building, our bat specialist obtained a licence for work and carried it out in a manner so as not to disturb the bats. Peaceful new modern homes were provided by way of bat boxes located in the woodland.

Handrail and spindles to spiral staircase

17/5/2019

After completing a curved extension and having a concrete spiral staircase manufactured a Poppleton based family began the difficult process of trying to find a manufacturer for a bespoke European oak handrail and spindles to compliment the stairs. After many months of being told it couldn’t be done they eventually found us, we visited site, examined the staircase, advised exactly what could be achieved and provided an estimate for the works.

Restoration of John Skeaping Statues

23/11/2018

Recently we completed the restoration of three over 6ft tall statues carved by John Skeaping, the husband to Barbra Hepworth for six years and well renowned carver who is known best for his work in stone and equestrian pieces.

The statues were the artists last large scale commission, they were carved from Nigerian Opepe for Kings College Cambridge, below are some historic photos of them stood in place.

YGOB- Craftsmanship Award Winners

16/11/2018

Yesterday evening was the annual York Guild of Building Craftsmanship Awards and once again we were delighted to have been shortlisted for an award.

We were enjoying an evening talking to the other craftsmen in attendance and watching the presentation of nominated work and then it was time for the awards…....

Where it was fantastic to find out that we had won the 'Masters Award' for the recreation of John Soane’s Ark of the Masonic Covenant.

New Doors for local church

13/9/2018

In the latter part of last year we were asked to manufacture and install a new pair of glazed oak entrance doors to a local York church. The doors are fitted with toughened glass which has been distorted to give the appearance of traditionally manufactured glass. The doors were given a clear satin-matt finish and feature a concealed door closer to help keep the church warm.

www.yorkguildofbuilding.co.uk

Holy Island- Door repairs

30/8/2018

We had the pleasure of being asked to travel to Lindisfarne (the holy island) in Northumberland to examine one of the castle doors and bring it back to our workshop for repair.

Following an early start our joiners reached site at 8:30am and made their way to the door, they were met on site by the property’s building surveyor and discussed the methods by which the door was to be repaired and together agreed the best way to proceed, following this we were asked to take a look at another door, to which we removed the lock for refurbishment in York.

Bespoke Handrail, Newels and Spindles

23/4/2018

Recently we were involved in the manufacture and installation of bespoke Handrail, Newels and spindles to a local property which is being refurbished. The newels were all individually designed and turned to suit the handrail heights and unique situations of each newel. The spindle design was chosen by the client from a number of samples from previous projects and they were turned to suit the length and width chosen, the hardwood handrail was manufactured in our workshop to match the original in size and shape.

The Ruin

5/3/2018

We recently completed a refurbishment of The Ruin, a wonderful, picturesque Landmark Trust holiday rental property near Grewelthorpe. The project consisted of the installation of boundary fencing along with the manufacture of new kitchen units and other internal refurbishment works.

Displayed in the Soane museum London

9/10/2017

Between the 11th of October and 20th January a replica of the 'Ark of the Masonic Covenant' which we produced is being displayed at the Sir John Soanes Museum in London.

In order to celebrate the tercentenary of the first masonic grand lodge we were instructed to manufacture a replica of Soane's original piece which was unfortunately lost during a fire in 1883, the information provided for the recreation was limited with only a few original sketches and a handful of paintings where the Ark is featured in the background.

Admission to the Museum is free and more information can be found at the museums website.

Restoration of Walmgate Bar, York

7/7/2017

Walmgate Bar, the most complete of the four main medieval gateways into the City of York – and the only one to retain its barbican, portcullis and inner doors has recently undergone a major programme of restoration work dating back to the 12th century.

Working alongside the City of York Council, Houghtons of York were selected to undertake the delicate repair work. Accoya was selected as the ideal wood to be used for the cornices. After detailed surveys the new Accoya woodwork was reinstated to match all of the originals. A new decked area was also created at roof level for use by visitors to the café who occupy the building allowing views across the city skyline.

The project has also been awarded: both an Institution of Civil Engineers Certificate of Excellence / John Fowler Award and was the winning entry for Conservation & Restoration’ in the 2016 York Design Awards.