Our Favorite Part Of Wisconsin

We made a quick day trip up to Door County last week. For those of you not familiar with Wisconsin it is the little peninsula that juts out into lake Michigan on the eastern shore of our state. It is a striking landscape with rocky shoreline, beaches, rolling hills and quaint little towns. Natural beauty and some quality architecture here and there along the way.



Door County was over developed like everywhere else over the course of the last fifteen years. Big condo complexes and some strip mall tourist traps. I think the overpowering condo complexes are about the worst of it. Sorry condo folks just not my cup o' tea. Not up there anyway. The county does keep a pretty tight finger on development as there are no chains or big boxes but beyond that it did get a little out of hand. Still all in all it is a great place to get away. The historic small towns are still pretty charming and play host to outstanding dining options. You will find fabulous historic homes along the bay and lake shores which makes for an enjoyable walk in the country.



We pulled a project out of the weeds last week. It is a Portland Door Cutter that we started restoration on about a year ago. It was restored about five years ago and wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The barn it was stored in burned. It was in a corner that survived but the paint was blistered and upholstery was destroyed.



It is a really nice sleigh in that it has an auto style seat. This was probably a later model using this design. Back in the day with the springs and doors this was a pretty serious Buick Park Avenue of a sleigh.



We stripped it down to the bare wood and started over. The dash was charred so we ended up replacing that. The door skins also needed replacement but other than that it was very solid and intact.



The runners are pretty well complete. They are dark maroon with a metallic gold stripe.



The striping is done for the most part. We have a little free hand work to do on the uprights but other than that the body is ready to attach.



The upholstery is going to be dark green wool broadcloth. Ryanne has started laying out the back cushion with a diamond tuft pattern. For a little sleigh the upholstery is pretty involved between the side cushions, doors and all. We will be working this through the shop in the next couple weeks so it will be ready to use over the winter.

Have a great day.

Best!
Todd