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Saturday, September 10, 2016

THE STOVE THAT STARTED IT ALL

Have you ever been to Cincinnati?  I simply love the place, specifically the "Over The Rhine" area, also know as OTR.  It's were my dad was born, and was our family's summer road trip destination for many of my early years.

For decades Cincinnati's perch on the Ohio river made it the Gateway to the West for immigrants using water highways to make their way from the east coast to lands beyond the Mississippi.  It's frontier port town identity is reflected in dense concentrations of 1800's architecture.  Seriously detailed and colorfully painted residential and commercial brick buildings cling to steep hills overlooking downtown and the beautiful bridges spanning the Ohio river.

John A. Roebling Bridge, 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, from Cincinnati side over the ohio river
Yes, this bridge should look familiar.  The John A. Roebling Bridge, 1867, was the practice run for the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883.

The steep grades of many Cincinnati streets puts the fear of God into any flatlander driving a stick shift.  My aunt loved to ride her (1 speed!) bike on those hilly streets as a kid, and cried because her over-developed calves inspired some schoolmates to tease her for having boy's legs.

When I'm trying to sum up Cincy's look and feel to someone in just a few words, "San Francisco of the Midwest" is my default phrase.  The photo I show is this view from our friend's house, in the heart of OTR:

Over the Rhine neighborhood, Cincinnati, Ohio, showing rooftops and church spires and Music Hall

Considering all the contributing factors, my love for the Queen City is unavoidable:  besides the great combination of landscape and architecture, it's also home to a large number of both my mom and dad's ancestors, who I have researched back to the 1830's.  The pleasantly particular accent of its denizens is a spin on "Southern" unlike anywhere else in the South.  The influx of skilled craftsmen during its heyday, along with plenty of the required natural resources, enabled art to flourish in Cincinnati.  Its museums are spectacular, showcasing local murals and ceramic works of international prominence, including Rookwood pottery, which points to the prominent role women had in Cincy's nascent art scene. Cincy was also an early incubator of the Arts and Crafts movement, and has some stunning examples of Art Deco themed buildings.  


Interior great room of Cincinnati Union Terminal Museum Center, showing huge arch window and ceiling


When in Cincinnati, DO NOT, under any circumstances, omit a visit to the Union Terminal train station, a high holy temple of Art Deco. 





Cincinnati Union Terminal Museum Center exterior showing art deco design in face of building and flowing waterfall and pond




Although it's closed right now for renovations, it's definitely worth a visit to experience the grandeur of the building's exterior and grounds.





Then there's Cincinnati's singular food and drink:  Skyline chili, Goeta, Graeter's ice cream, and, mmm - beer.  OTR was the original center of the lager beer universe, and is making a spectacular comeback due in no small measure to - you guessed it - beer!  (See my link page and praise for the book When Beer Was King).

Yeah, so there's all those things that are great about Cincinnati.  Ultimately though, what really motivates my wife Kathleen and I to finally pack up and drive the 5 hours isn't beer, architecture, or cute little hot dogs with chili and cheese - really really tasty hot dogs, chili and cheese - oh they are so good.  No, actually, it's our love for our friends Steve and Denise.

Denise's smile would light up the darkest vault in a mausoleum at midnight, and her singing would bring the inhabitants back to life.   Steve is a master restoration builder, passionate about preserving the genius of Cincy's old world craftsmanship.  Much of what he's seen throughout town he's distilled inside their home, with brilliant color choices that makes it a four story religious experience.  Steve's hand-made hinges, rounded plaster corners, high, sculpted baseboards and other details all attest to his skill, knowledge, and reverence for the artisan craftsmen that rendered Cincinnati into a unique and rich collection of architectural treasures.

Blue Chambers Model C in colorful kitchen in Cincinnati Ohio





So I guess that it's really no surprise that it was in Cincinnati, in Denise and Steve's home, back around 1998, that we first laid eyes on a Chambers stove, their baby blue model C.  







Blue Chambers Model C in colorful kitchen in Cincinnati Ohio showing griddle, thermowell and high back splash
It was awe and lust at first sight.  Besides the sheer beauty of the dang thing, part of the draw was the mystery of it:  where did it come from?  How did it work?  No one really knew.  Supposedly it was made out of cast iron and had a brick-lined oven that let it cook at 1000 degrees, and it could even cook without the gas on.


 All that we knew for sure was that we loved those tear drop handles, the sensuous curves, the deep golden glow of the timer and oven dials, and the chromium blue pattern of the cooktop flames against the deep black porcelain drip pans and burners.


A few years later, when our post-infant son started crawling around the sticky floors of our decrepit kitchen, we coughed up a fur ball of dough to start remodeling.  We weren't really considering a Chambers:  for all we knew, Steve and Denise's was the only one in the world (note to digital natives:  This was before the internet).  So we started looking at new stoves, and were immediately, thoroughly underwhelmed by bland looks, shoddy construction, and a weirdly slimy feel of touchpad controls.  Although it may have something to do with the fact that Steve designed the layout of our kitchen, my wife and I decided that no way would the shadow of a new stove ever darken our front door.  We asked our Cincinnati friends to keep their eyes peeled for an old stove, and if it were a Chambers like theirs, well, it wouldn't exactly hurt our feelings.

Turns out Steve recalled that he had helped a friend move into a house 20 years previous, and he was pretty sure there was a Chambers in the basement.  He called the friend and the stove was still there, unused since the move, and it was indeed a Chambers, an older, white model B.

In a blink of an eye Kathleen and I were in Cincy with the minivan, to pick up some Coneys and the stove, er, the stove and some Coneys.  Soon afterwards, the model B was in a heap of parts in my basement shop.  More about that later.

I tell this story practically every time I do a Chambers service call, so why not just put it in my blog for the whole world to see?  Denise and Steve, thanks for welcoming me into your "neighborhood", and for introducing me to the world of Chambers stoves.  I know that I am but one of the hundreds of people who have been inspired by the love and creativity you two surround yourself with, and radiate from every pore.    

Thursday, August 25, 2016

PORTFOLIO

SEEING THE BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN SETTINGS many of my clients build around their Chambers is one thing I love about my job.  Often I will yank a stove in the middle of demolition, with dust and mayhem swirling around my lungs and mind as I'm driving away with the stove on the way to the shop.  Man I wish that I'd been photographing those demos… They can be so gawd-awful, and so entirely different to the scene I return to with the repaired or restored stove.

Here are photos of a few of those stoves and owners in some of the more beautiful settings, some redone, others original:

White Chambers Stove highback in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.



Most of the settings I install Chambers in are vintage, and most of them are visually busy.  That's why I like the stark contrast here, in my client's small cottage in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Compare this with her brother's place below.
White Chambers stove Model C highback in retro kitchen with steel cabinets, Chicago, Illinois



A modest and elegant setting, brilliantly remodeled with vintage steel Geneva cabinets in a Chicago two-flat.
A couple of Chambers stove owners in retro kitchen, Chicago


Tom and Nancy are both fantastic artists.  They own a nice Model C low back in their funky Chicago bungalow.  The stove shot is nice but heck with it, I love this shot so much better.
Owner of Chambers stove Model C low back in retro kitchen, Elmhurst, Illinois



 Joe with his pride and joy Model C, in a great original vintage "sunrise" kitchen in Elmhurst, Illinois.
Vintage Chambers stove repair, model C highback set in retro kitchen, Glen Ellyn, Illiinois




This gorgeous space - in a similarly gorgeous Arts and Crafts home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois - was created by my friends Jim and Deb.  Does it surprise you that they are designers?
Beautiful white farm sink in vintage white retro kitchen in Lombard, Illinois


The place that inspired this post:  I was working on Mark and Michelle's Chambers in Lombard, Illinois while big guys were ripping out the floor and wall around their wonderful farm sink.  On returning, I found the sink surrounded by clean symmetry, facing their model B blacktop shown below.
Vintage Chambers stove model B blacktop in corner of retro kitchen with vintage plates and bowls, Lombard, Illinois



The presence of the yellow drapes, bowls, plates and tea kettle is so slight, yet so awesome, it totally knocks me dead.  Mommy, I WANT THIS KITCHEN!!!

Vintage Chambers Model BZ stove in modern white kitchen in Mequon, Wisconsin near Milwaukee

To the right is another Model B with black porcelain top and handles.  Ironically, this was the cheapest version of the model, yet the black top and handles create such great accents in white kitchens, this one so very nicely done in Mequon, Wisconsin.
Vintage blue Chambers model C high back set in modest kitchen in Millbrook, New York



On a slim budget?  Here's an instance of how a Chambers can BE the rehab in an existing, non-vintage kitchen.   My friends Eric and Emma simply dropped in Baby Blue (which Eric helped me restore), then cleaned the cabinets, painted the walls, and added furniture and dishes that riff off of the stove.  In my humble opinion, they got themselves the best dang kitchen in upstate New York, Millbrook, specifically.
Vintage restored stainless steel Chambers cooktop in modern kitchen near Chicago, Illinois


I couldn't put two more starkly different photos together than the one above and to the right.  My Munster, Indiana client loved her Chambers Cooktop but needed to do a total rehab for her elderly mom's kitchen.  Normally I prefer color but I gotta say that this contemporary monochrome treatment incorporating the vintage Cooktop is quite attractive.

Vintage restored green Chambers stove model BZ in funky kitchen in Three Oaks, Michigan near New Buffalo
Photo provided by client



Finally, check out this gorgeous mint green Model BZ in a  quaint cabin in Three Oaks, Michigan, near New Buffalo.  First time I've ever seen a BZ in other than white or yellow plumage.  Next to that brick chimney with that yellow faux lure…  Mmmm mmm!  That's a-nice!

Thursday, July 21, 2016

CAN'T STAND THE HEAT?...

MANY OF US, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH, CHOOSE NOT TO HAVE OUR COOKTOP AND THERMO-WELL PILOTS GOING IN THE SUMMER.  It really cuts down on heat in the kitchen.  Extinguishing the pilots at summer solstice, and relighting at the fall equinox, can put Chambers owners in touch with the seasons.

My wife and I don't actually live in the south but we are of southern Italian heritage, so we don't like air conditioning and generally just like to do things in more difficult ways than is normally done.  So on the first hot days of late spring we turn off the gas to the ThermoWell and cooktop pilots.  Thereafter we must use a grill igniter (we call it Sparky) to light the cooktop burners when we need them.  It usually takes a little getting used to:  we flip a burner lever and stare at the cold dark iron for a few seconds until we remember to grab Sparky and make fire happen.  In those first few weeks I'm sure we waste more gas than the pilots would ever consume over the summer, but it does actually keep the kitchen cooler.  Here's the "How To":

Adjustments for pilot flames on a Chambers Model B, showing the flash tube and burner.
Models A/B/BZ:  Remove the grate and drip pan from the front left burner. My finger is pointing to the flash tube.  Lift it's tip off of the burner body in order to get better access to the control valves for the cooktop and ThermoWell.  The valves, shown at left, are small brass bodies attached to the stove's manifold (gas supply pipe).  You may have to go through the right REAR burner opening to access the cooktop pilot valve.





Using a slotted screwdriver to adjust the pilot light for a Chambers Model B stove.

With a medium to large screwdriver, turn the cooktop valve clockwise to reduce and turn off the pilot.  The valves may be "frozen" if they haven't been serviced.  If so, gently but with some force turn the screwdriver in one direction, then the other, many times until the valve starts to turn.  Now turn the valve gently clockwise until it stops.  The pilot flame should be out and you should not smell any gas.  Repeat the process for the ThermoWell.






Arrow points to the pilot filter assembly inside the service cabinet of a Chambers model C and D stove


Models C and D:  Open up the service compartment door, and to the upper left you will see the pilot valve heads (yellow arrow).












Pilot filter assembly for a vintage Chambers model C or D stove inside the service cabinet.
Sometimes it's a filter with two screws, other times it's a filter to which the pilot valve assembly is attached.



Pilot assembly attached to pilot filter for a vintage Chambers model C or D stove inside the service cabinet.



The upper screw head is for the cooktop pilot, the lower is for the ThermoWell.  Adjust as described above.






Of course when fall comes around we reverse the process, and experience a giddy sense of awe at simply turning a lever and having fire magically appear!  How incredibly awesome and convenient!  Some would argue that a Chambers range with two pilot lights going is not efficient or environmentally friendly.  I respectfully disagree.  During the winter, whatever heat those pilots are putting off are taking load off the furnace for warming the house.

As a Chambers owner, you already know how fabulously interesting life can be.  Make it even more so by getting in touch with the rotation of the planet by the seasonal extinguishing and lighting of your ThermoWell and cooktop pilots!

TECH TIP:  The proper height of you cooktop pilot flame is about 3/4".  Shorter is fine, as long as it still easily lights your burners, and stays lit with whatever drafts exist in your kitchen.  Same for your ThermoWell pilot.  Whatever it's height, you don't want to have any orange in the tip of the flame.  That indicates incomplete combustion, creating excessive carbon monoxide that may cause an unpleasant smell, and gives some people headaches.