Coaxing tired, old pieces of furniture back to life

A local refinisher's work has landed in celebrities' homes.

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF, Times Correspondent
Published October 22, 2007

Robert Stoner sands an antique clock cabinet he is refinishing at his Holiday workshop. His reflection appears in the mirrors of a 1926 vanity.
	[Brendan Fitterer | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Brendan Fitterer | Times] Using a wire brush, Mike Roberts removes existing finish while working with Stoner at his Holiday shop. [Brendan Fitterer | Times] Robert Stoner says he has restored "everything from Grandma's kitchen table to $25,000 antiques."

HOLIDAY - Robert G. Stoner Jr. found his niche in an industrial warehouse behind a Home Depot along U.S. 19.

From a barn-size studio that opens to the world like a garage, he looks out over a dirt road, a few humble houses and a bent oak tree in the shape of a reposing "L."

As far as Stoner's concerned, this little patch of paradise is still worth seeking out for its rural beauty amid the chaos of development.

"I've got the sunrise every morning, roosters crowing and this beautiful tree," he says. "I found a little bit of country back here."

A Vietnam veteran who holds a degree in fine art from the University of South Florida, Stoner, 58, is an accomplished painter and sculptor. He's also a respected furniture refinisher whose handiwork has found its way into the homes of some of Pasco County's oldest families as well as a few celebrities, including illusionist David Copperfield.

Stoner bought the old desk that once stood in the office of a U.S. postmaster off a traveling carnival family. He says it was originally in such dilapidated condition that he "brought it back from the dead."

He has also refinished furniture that's landed in the hands of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Blondie cartoonist Dean Young.

"I get great satisfaction from starting off with nothing and ending up with something," says Stoner, who recently restored an old rolltop desk that a client brought to him in two laundry baskets and four boxes.

He jokes that unlike other artists and craftsmen, "the best work I do you'll never see; that's the nature of furniture repair and refinishing."

He strips all furniture by hand, sands, welds, restores veneers, even hand-carves missing pieces so well it's hard to tell what's new and what's old - including intricate ball-and-claw feet he recently carved to replace missing ones on an antique oak sideboard.

He does much of the work himself, keeping company with a house cat named Marble and a part-time assistant a man he befriended who lives in one of the homes across the dirt road from his studio. He's even restored the wooden spoke wheels of a 1927 Dodge touring sedan.

"These chairs look great, don't they?" says Kathryn Starkey, who brought her 22-year-old wooden kitchen chairs in for repair after her mother-in-law recommended Stoner. "I couldn't find new ones I liked as well."

Stoner, who went to work in management for Kmart after graduating from USF, retired from the company after 16 years when he injured his back on the job. A friend asked him to help out in his antique store during the day, waiting on customers and refinishing the occasional piece of furniture.

The refinishing soon took on a life of its own: Stoner, who grew up in Canton, Ohio, had always loved restoring furniture. His maternal grandfather was a furniture craftsman in Germany, and the skill was in his blood.

Stoner eventually bought out the antique store, which was in Tarpon Springs.

He has moved his business around to a few different locations, including Palm Harbor. He also stopped selling antiques because refinishing is his passion.

He moved to his current Holiday location, at 1207 Lord St., about a decade ago.

"I don't do any advertising whatsoever; my business is all word-of-mouth," he says.

He and his wife, Debra, a dental assistant, live in a 1970s three-bedroom ranch house in Holiday Lake Estates. The house is decorated with Stoner's restored antiques, especially in the bedroom, where the furniture is all waterfall art deco.

"The house is very eclectic; a William F. Morris chair might sit next to an antique chest that's being used as a table," he says. "I collect for beauty, not compatibility."

Stoner also restores motorcycles, his other passion. He just finished restoring a Triumph BSA, beautifully cobbled back together from a box of parts, a frame, wheels and front end purchased separately.

His next furniture project is an old Georgia plantation schoolmaster's desk that is in such poor condition that someone came into the shop and gave it to him.

Stoner is definitely up to the job.

"For me, it's worthy of restoration because I can put in the amount of time needed to bring it back to life."

He dreams of someday working for the Smithsonian.

"I would like to get into a position where I can make a significant contribution to the future," he says.

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com.

[Last modified October 21, 2007, 20:35:20]