Every day at the chateau is different. Always something interesting or exciting happening.
After many years as a furniture designer, Barry’s attention turned to restoring vintage fountain pens. It started as a hobby in 1998 but quickly turned into a business. His website www.heritagecollectables.com growing so large it became full time and sells restored pens worldwide.
We were not expecting to become quite so involved in our customers lives. All sorts of parcels arrive often with touching letters about how a relative once treasured this pen and how wonderful if it could be restored. Oh the pressure! These delicate antiques need opening, re-sacking, polishing, new parts, each stage needing the utmost care. As he has someone’s precious memories in their hands. We also receive messages from customers so thrilled they can now write with a pen so special to them.
Sometimes a pen needs Barry’s miniature engineering skills. It is a joy to work on something small sometimes, as with chateau, restoration everything is so huge
The East tower has become not just a workshop for technical pen repairs, but a beautiful space for sculpture, art and music. (And the home of Oakleigh Bear!) For many years art could only be a hobby but now with a new lifestyle many sculpture projects have been able to turn into beautiful products for sale. It can take many months for an idea to turn into an item for sale and the low numbers produced means each one is special.
