In 2003, Huston & Company built the furniture for the Paul Pratt Memorial Library in Cohasset, MA. It’s lovely furniture: traditional and warm. The order consisted of 8 study tables, 2 6-station carrels, a display table, an atlas stand, and 66 end panels, 7 canopy tops, a console table and a new book display.
We worked closely with Jane Lucas, then of Lucas Stefura Associates (now Stefura Associates, as Jane has happily retired), and the Head Librarian at the time, Patience Towle. Both ladies have since moved on to new adventures.
Bill Huston recently had an opportunity to visit the library with a cousin who lives nearby. He was pleased to see the furniture still looks as beautiful as the day it was installed, nine years ago, and is as timeless as promised. It has held up wonderfully under constant use by the general public and works perfectly with the new technology so prevalent in libraries today.
Here are a few photos from Bill’s visit.
As I explored the Paul Pratt Library project file to prepare for this post, I came across the following quote from Jane Lucas, written in an email to Bill Huston the day after the furniture was installed in 2003:
“I am very pleased with the Huston & Company products at the site. Just beautiful. It is also so great to not have a punch list and follow-up to carry on, and on. You do make it so easy for us to work with you. Thank you so much – and thank all the guys too. It was nice to meet them officially, even though I know I saw a couple of them at my shop tour last summer. You have a great team!”
It’s always a pleasure to visit an installation many years later and see how our furniture looks, how it’s being used and how it is still appreciated. It truly is built to last for generations. I’m sure some of the little kids in the Paul Pratt Library children’s room today will be enjoying that same furniture when they visit the library with their own children in years to come.