Case Studies

Normally with a new client the sales team establishes rapport, explores the requirements and introduces to the new client to the unique character of Patina products and services. This project got off to a running start, however, since the owner has purchased Patina flooring in the past when their New York City apartment was the proud recipient of a Patina floor.

The owner was so pleased with it that when they purchased a French historic hillside villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea near Monaco that was filled with old and stained carpeting, they immediately turned to Jim and Jane at Patina to floor the house in a manner that would reflect the Art Nouveau style of the stained glass windows and much of the furniture and look like it has been in place since the late 19th Century.

Research and Development:

Jim and Jane put their heads together. The plank flooring itself would be little trouble since it would be their "flag ship" rustic wide plank. But infusing it with an Art Nouveau ambience would take a bit of thought and research. While on a trip to Italy and a visit rummaging around old book stores tucked away discretely in back alleys in Venice, Jim came across a book filled with plates of Art Nouveau Terrazzo flooring from a 1930’s catalogue of Venetian flooring designs by the Crovato Brothers (heirs to Francesco). Perfect, translated to wood, for this project.

Production:

Jane Henderson, working with both 2nd millennium computer technology and old world tracing paper, worked out the basic templates of design for the base board straight-aways and room corners. Meanwhile Jim Henderson took the early drawings and developed a system of production that would make perfectly fitting border sections that allowed the borders to drop into the plank flooring. However, this task was made more difficult because like most of the houses built until recently in France, there was no such thing as a straight wall, 90°corner or flat sub floor. They were seldom built that way in the first place, but with a century of wear and hillside settling, the passage of time had had a hand in presenting a challenge.

He also decided that the perfectly fitting inlay of wood border design looked too new, and adjusted the process to give the more rustic, aged look of the rest of the floor.

The original architects had also created some lovely elements of their own with 45°+/- flattened corners not to mention fire place stone hearths that jutted out into the rooms. But both Jim and Jane worked through these challenges. Every off center corner, flexing straight runs and multi-angled protuberances were mapped out, cut to shape and assembled in the California factory before being and shipped off to the Cöte d’Azur.




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