WILMINGTON — In with the old while you make way for the new. That’s the sentiment of Legacy Architectural Salvage, a project of the Historic Wilmington Foundation.
Legacy Architectural Salvage mines for hidden treasures set to be tossed aside for modern renovations and accepts donations from those willing to save pieces from the past.
Builders, homeowners, renovators and those interested in preserving the past all regularly donate to and explore the warehouse’s varied selection.
All of the project’s proceeds go towards enhancing and preserving historic downtown Wilmington through the Wilmington Historic Foundation.
This year, the project found some interesting and historical pieces of note.
Here’s what the group says is its top 5 finds of 2017:
1920s Craftsman-style mantle
Deborah Helms, Legacy Architectural Salvage’s assistant manager, estimates the mantle predates the 1920s. Helms believes the yellow pine mantle was likely salvaged from a farmhouse.
1800s Philadelphia Freight Elevator
This 1800s era Philadelphia freight elevator was salvaged from WAVE transit’s old station on Castle Street last month.
This freight elevator has a car platform, which suggests its an earlier model than some of the cart designs that became popular in the late 1800s.
Helms said she wasn’t sure how the historic Philadelphia elevator ended up in North Carolina.
“I thought it would be cool to put it in a loft, or bar,” Helms said.
1950s pink standing sink
Colored, cast iron porcelain was all the rage in mid-century modern design, and this standing pink sink is evidence of a bygone era of bold bathrooms.
While the sink is not as old as some of Legacy Architectural Salvage’s more historic finds, its funky personage stands out among the sea of white sinks and tubs in the warehouse’s collection.
Decorative 1920s windows
The decorative windows are actually a reproduction, but Helms finds them valuable because they were used for the movie production “Bolden!” which was filmed in Wilmington.
“We have two of them,” Helms said. “It’s a reproduction for pre-1920s.”
1910s Hampstead farm door
This Hampstead farm door predates World War I and Legacy Architectural Salvage can tell this by its interlocking parts that puzzle the whole piece together.
“You don’t find them this gorgeous very often,” Helms said.
Interior designers were working on renovating the home and thought to ask Legacy Architectural Salvage if they wanted it before tossing it aside.
Legacy Architectural Salvage is open to the public every Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. It will be closed Dec. 23 but will reopen Dec. 30 for a 10 percent off sale.
[mappress mapid=”1118″]
Johanna Ferebee can be reached at [email protected] or @j__ferebee on Twitter
