It’s not at all unusual for Langhorne to be
involved in major historic restoration projects. As a circa 1930 business—and
one of two remaining Wilton Jacquard mills in the U.S.—our mill and team are
simply able to design and weave floor traditional wool coverings in ways other
manufacturers cannot. But what is
unusual is for us to be a part of something as big as the Minnesota State
Capitol Restoration Project. The multi-year, $309.674 million undertaking has
restored one of the country’s grandest state houses to its turn-of-the-century
glory—modernizing while burnishing, leaving history unscathed. We were honored
to accept the job of re-creating a carpet for the elegant and gilded Governor’s
Reception Room, a space the state’s highest official uses for speeches and
formal gatherings.
With a gentle suggestion from our Philadelphia friend Gail Winkler—who, with partner Roger W. Moss, quite literally wrote the book on restoring 19th Century American buildings—Minneapolis-based HGA Architects and Engineers found us to create the carpet. HGA wanted an American mill with expertise in historic reproduction, said senior associate and project architect Kimberly Sandbulte, “Langhorne was called out as being the best, if not the only, American mill that could produce a product similar to the original carpet.”
