Church Of The Heavenly Rest - Door Conservation

The Church of the Heavenly Rest on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue houses one of that city’s most well-known Episcopal congregations. The Art Deco-tinged Gothic church was completed in 1929 to a design by Mayers, Murray & Phillip, the successor firm to Bertram Goodhue.

In addition to its famous carved statuary, the church is a study in architectural metalwork. The main entrance at Fifth Avenue contains a set of two double doors in oak accented with striking nickel-plated strap hinges and hardware set off with bright lacquer-red backplates.

We were hired in 2013 to restore the hardware at the exterior and interior of the doors to its original bright nickel finish and refurbish all components, including rim locks, fixing bolts, decorative ring pulls, surface-mounted flush bolts and strap hinges cast with scenes recounting the history of the Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

The complex pieces were carefully disassembled at our shop. All components, including screws, were catalogued and indexed for plating. Locks were disassembled for refurbishment. Corroded parts were measured and drawn for re-fabrication. All parts were then stripped of failed plating and re-plated with a double layer of nickel over a copper strike plate. Electroless nickel was used below the finish plate of electrolytic nickel to increase durability. Before delivery, all parts were waxed and then re-catalogued to ensure continuity.