Safe-at-Home project yielded a glass masterpiece

MEMBER COLUMN

Fred and Linda Fenton of Mutual 12 have spent their time at safer-at-home by adding a hand-crafted stained glass window from the renowned Judson Studios, the oldest family-run stained glass studio in America, to their Interlachen Road home. The project exceeded their expectations and distracted the couple from COVID-19 concerns.

by Fred Fenton

LW contributor

My wife, Linda, and I decided to add a stained glass window to our Mutual 12 apartment after a tour of Judson Studios in Highland Park last fall.

Judson has been designing and fabricating art glass for churches and secular buildings around the globe since 1897. At the studios, we met David Judson, the fifth-generation family member to own and operate the company. Our tour covered the fascinating, age-old process by which stained glass windows are made.

Driving home to Leisure World, we began thinking about a stained glass window for our apartment. The question was, where could we put it? After looking around our home, as if for the first time, we decided on the short entrance wall which featured only the doorbell and a mail slot.

Next, we called Judson Studios, not sure they would consider doing a small job like ours. They seemed happy to oblige, especially when I told them we had already chosen a design for the window. Apparently, much of their time can be spent drawing something up for customers who are not quite sure what they want and can be difficult to satisfy.

Frank Lloyd Wright, our favorite architect, incorporated stained glass windows in his homes. I emailed a picture of his “Tree of Life” design to Judson. They were familiar with Wright’s work and said they would be happy to use it in creating a window for us.

Linda met with our contractor, John Bergkvist, who ordered a framed, clear glass window for the wall we had chosen. It would provide a wooden frame in which to insert the stained glass window and also provide the protection of a clear glass pane on the outside. By the time the window arrived, the COVID-19 virus had come to Orange County. The workmen and we ourselves were masked like bandits and kept our distance.

Some weeks later, the stained glass window arrived from Judson. We opened the package to see it for the first time. We were thrilled. It was just as we had imagined. In

the lower right corner of the window it was signed “Judson Studios 2020.” The workman returned to install our beautiful window, adding a narrow strip of wood on four sides to hold it in place. We had our stained glass window to enjoy for years to come.