02 Jul the hidden rooms at boylston offered great finds for creating repurposed furnishings

years after the boylston factory salvage was completed, we are still actively incorporating boylston industrial objects into a variety of repurposed furniture and furnishings that can be used in a multitude of design settings or spaces.

when we first arrived, the two “hidden” floors where a complete and utter mess. it was truly a challenge to develop a system where we could productively sort through and gather the relevant versus the irrelevant.

i’m sure in the eyes of your everyday scrapper, the chaotic assemblage of stuff would have been quickly perceived as a concentrated collection of metal that could be effortlessly trucked away to the scrap yard. it’s a very good thing urban remains got involved in the mix, and with my lead, made the arduous attempt to make sense of it all before the scrap option was ever considered.

the chicago-based boylston steam specialties company dates back to the 19th century (founded in 1888) and have since remained leaders in the steam valve industry. it was incredibly helpful to come across several profusely illustrated “period” catalogs that offered great insight into the products we were finding left and right – many with very early serial numbers.

knowing the difference between diffractors, bonnets and other steam system valve components grew on me. i was intrigued by the ingenuity and functionality of all these parts collecting dust.

the two floors we worked in were housed in their downtown chicago building (1912) that held offices, machine shops and showrooms. over the years the building was gradually transformed into office spaces with the exception of these two floors, that for one reason or another refused to be renovated.

so when we arrived, we were walking into a massive time capsule that contained machinery, patterns, castings and the like that sat largely untouched since the 1940’s.

shortly after a deal was reached, we began loading one box truck after another with industrial furnishings that either had “repurpose” potential or simply because the components were appealing to my mind’s eye.

the gallery below shows a sampling of repurposed furnishings salvaged from the boylston steam specialties company. to this day, we are still finding crates stowed away that are filled with parts that after a little cleaning and reimagining, could someday be added to the gallery below.

the incredibly cool “grease trap” with original cylindrical glass housing, cast bronze body and highly polished nickel-plated bronze ball float was the one and only artifact i had to keep for myself.