Artisan

KIMBERLY MACARTHUR GRAHAM

>>> Sun Valley Bronze, Bellevue, Idaho

Though some of us may not give much thought to knobs, levers, pulls, lock sets, latches and their ilk, quality hardware goes a long way toward reinforcing a well-designed project. Occasionally, however, these stagehands rise from functional details to scene-stealers. Such is the case with the hardware produced by the artisans of Sun Valley Bronze in Bellevue, Idaho.

Company founder Robert Commons was working as a high-end finish carpenter when he became frustrated with the lack of excellence in the hardware he needed to finish his projects. Recalls son Josh Commons, "He'd spend six months on a custom staircase, then all he could find was shiny brass stuff, especially in the mountain areas" where he focused his work. Starting in 1992 with window hardware, and eventually adding complementary lines such as door and gate hardware, escutcheons and knob sets, hinges, even coat hooks, Robert Commons has grown family-run Sun Valley Bronze into a powerhouse of a design shop and foundry, with 50 people serving thousands of designers and their clients through 70 hand-picked showrooms.

The hardware is made with molten bronze, poured into sand-packed molds.

Still run by Commons and his sons, daughters, their spouses and extended family members, Sun Valley Bronze takes both design and production seriously, meticulously creating every item using Old World methods supported by the newest technology. Everything is done on site: pattern-making, melting, sand casting, grinding and machining. "A lot of people stamp out pieces," says Josh Commons, "but we make sand molds. The sand is packed in manually, then we pour in the metal. It's not ultra-precise. You pour it in and let it come out the way it comes out. There are imperfections; you see the texture of the sand." But it's this handmade, not-quite- perfect look that gives Sun Valley Bronze work its unique handsomeness.

The simplicity and clean lines of Sun Valley Bronze hardware make it appropriate for a variety of architectural styles, from Mission to mountain contemporary to Victorian. Made to last the life of a building, the pieces are also styled so that they will never look dated. This has created a big fan base among designers and their clients.

A row of door latches awaits final touches.

In fact, Sun Valley Bronze designs have more than occasionally evolved from customer input. Says Commons, "They'll say, 'Oh, I love what you're capable of,' and they'll ask, 'Can you…?'" He pauses, allowing the silence to let imagination conjure the myriad iterations that have been requested-and received. He thinks custom orders are positive for both parties. The client gets a personalized design; the foundry gets to solve a new problem and, then, to share a new look with other clients (unless it features a logo or something else specific to the originator).

A selection of rich patinas can be added to any piece of hardware, further customizing the look. Each requires a labor-intensive process capped by a hand-rubbed wax finish. Like the hardware itself, the patinas are not surface treatments, but deep and permanent finishes made to withstand a lifetime of use and wear. (Another cool "green" benefit is that all Sun Valley Bronze products are made with 95 percent post-consumer materials.)

The Corrugated collection of door hardware.

A good bit of the company's work involves not only custom knobs or levers, but entirely new problems to solve. One such undertaking involved the creation of a large batch of manned gates that the client wanted clad in bronze straps with invisible mountings. Bound for Hawaii, the gates required much more than sand casting and polishing. First, to figure out exactly how to design and craft the gates, Sun Valley Bronze employees made life-size mockups. Once design was approved, the production process began, its intensity symbolized by the hand-machining required for every single part. Finally, the complete (and very heavy) order was shipped to the Big Island on a plethora of pallets.

The company's employees pay attention to details, both in production and in customer service. Because the Commons family feels strongly that designers and architects, with their collective eye for quality and craft, are their best unofficial salespeople, Sun Valley Bronze sells only to the trade via select showrooms. Explaining their pickiness about how people view their products, Commons says, "These are not the kind of things you can pick out online (though the company has a Web site). They are totally tailored to your house." Not to mention that it's pretty difficult to fully appreciate the glow of hand-polished bronze on a monitor.

Sun Valley Bronze, Bellevue, ID; (866) 788-3631 or www.svbronze.com.

From top, a Sun Valley Bronze gate latch, ring pull and knob each exhibit an earthy quality.