The Burr Ridge Versailles.
A French Neoclassical commission with two stairs in the same vocabulary — Bohemian crystal above, black diamond marble below, hand-forged scrollwork iron throughout.
Two stairs in one house, both speaking French — and the harder challenge was the back one. Anyone can put effort into the grand stair under the chandelier. The discipline is making the service stair, the one the family actually uses every day, live in the same vocabulary without becoming a pastiche of the front.
The front stair is a Petit Trianon move — applied plaster ornament on the walls, a Bohemian crystal chandelier drifting through the open well, and a floor of limestone inset with black diamond marble in a Versailles pattern. The stair has to hold its own in that company. Ebony-stained white oak treads, hand-forged iron with full scrollwork and small heart motifs along the rail line, and a hand-shaped volute scroll where the handrail terminates at the bottom newel.
Carved walnut newel caps. Plaster details that echo the wall ornament. A handrail that you can run your hand along from the entry foyer all the way to the third-floor landing without the eye catching on a seam. The iron alone took our shop weeks — every spindle scrolled, twisted, and assembled by hand, then hot-blued to a soft black that reads as metal rather than paint.
The back stair is where this project shows its real ambition. Same ebony treads. Same scrollwork iron, scaled down a register. Same vocabulary, played quieter. Walk between the two stairs and the language is unmistakably one house — but neither stair pretends to be something it isn't. The service stair is honest. The grand stair is grand. Together, they're one commission.
Two stairs in one house, both speaking French — and the harder challenge was the back one.
Approach to the grand stair from the foyer — the chandelier drifting through the open well overhead.
The full sweep, framed by plaster ornament and a marble floor in a Versailles pattern.
Hand-forged iron detail — scrollwork with small heart motifs, hot-blued to a soft black finish.
The bottom newel — a hand-shaped volute scroll where the handrail terminates over a carved walnut cap.
Looking up the well — three floors resolve into a single drawn line of carved rail and forged iron.
Upper landing context — the rail crosses to the second floor without ever breaking its silhouette.
Ebony-stained oak treads and the iron-and-rail relationship at full sweep.
From the upper gallery — the chandelier and stair compose as one object in the well.
Detail across the landing — the rail rounds the corner without missing a beat.
The relationship between balcony rail, stair rail, and the room they share.
Closing context on the front stair before the back stair begins.
The back stair — same ebony oak, same scrollwork iron, scaled to a quieter register.
Where the service stair meets the family floor — still in the vocabulary, still in our shop.
A turn in the back stair — handrail mitered, scrollwork continuing, no shortcut taken.
Mid-flight detail on the back stair — same heart motif as the front, played at a different volume.
Looking up the back stair well — the language never breaks between the two stairs.
The bottom of the service stair where it lands in the secondary entry.
Side view of the back-stair iron — scrollwork at a closer reading distance.
Closing frame — both stairs in the same house, both built in the same shop, both speaking French.
Tell us about the stair your house deserves.
The Burr Ridge Versailles.
A French Neoclassical commission with two stairs in the same vocabulary — Bohemian crystal above, black diamond marble below, hand-forged scrollwork iron throughout.
Two stairs in one house, both speaking French — and the harder challenge was the back one. Anyone can put effort into the grand stair under the chandelier. The discipline is making the service stair, the one the family actually uses every day, live in the same vocabulary without becoming a pastiche of the front.
The front stair is a Petit Trianon move — applied plaster ornament on the walls, a Bohemian crystal chandelier drifting through the open well, and a floor of limestone inset with black diamond marble in a Versailles pattern. The stair has to hold its own in that company. Ebony-stained white oak treads, hand-forged iron with full scrollwork and small heart motifs along the rail line, and a hand-shaped volute scroll where the handrail terminates at the bottom newel.
Carved walnut newel caps. Plaster details that echo the wall ornament. A handrail that you can run your hand along from the entry foyer all the way to the third-floor landing without the eye catching on a seam. The iron alone took our shop weeks — every spindle scrolled, twisted, and assembled by hand, then hot-blued to a soft black that reads as metal rather than paint.
The back stair is where this project shows its real ambition. Same ebony treads. Same scrollwork iron, scaled down a register. Same vocabulary, played quieter. Walk between the two stairs and the language is unmistakably one house — but neither stair pretends to be something it isn't. The service stair is honest. The grand stair is grand. Together, they're one commission.
Two stairs in one house, both speaking French — and the harder challenge was the back one.
Approach to the grand stair from the foyer — the chandelier drifting through the open well overhead.
The full sweep, framed by plaster ornament and a marble floor in a Versailles pattern.
Hand-forged iron detail — scrollwork with small heart motifs, hot-blued to a soft black finish.
The bottom newel — a hand-shaped volute scroll where the handrail terminates over a carved walnut cap.
Looking up the well — three floors resolve into a single drawn line of carved rail and forged iron.
Upper landing context — the rail crosses to the second floor without ever breaking its silhouette.
Ebony-stained oak treads and the iron-and-rail relationship at full sweep.
From the upper gallery — the chandelier and stair compose as one object in the well.
Detail across the landing — the rail rounds the corner without missing a beat.
The relationship between balcony rail, stair rail, and the room they share.
Closing context on the front stair before the back stair begins.
The back stair — same ebony oak, same scrollwork iron, scaled to a quieter register.
Where the service stair meets the family floor — still in the vocabulary, still in our shop.
A turn in the back stair — handrail mitered, scrollwork continuing, no shortcut taken.
Mid-flight detail on the back stair — same heart motif as the front, played at a different volume.
Looking up the back stair well — the language never breaks between the two stairs.
The bottom of the service stair where it lands in the secondary entry.
Side view of the back-stair iron — scrollwork at a closer reading distance.
Closing frame — both stairs in the same house, both built in the same shop, both speaking French.