The Rocks Marketplace: Boyd & Doyle

Historical artifacts have long intrigued Ken Chester. As a teenager, he collected antique bottles. As an adult he turned to a larger hobby – restoring old houses. Ken and his wife (and business partner) Heidi now live in a late 19^th century farm house in Lancaster, which is the fourth old house Ken has worked to refurbish. The former horse barn on the property serves as the hub for Boyd & Doyle, the company Ken started in 1996 and which he and Heidi now run together.

Boyd & Doyle is a merging of the old and the new and comprises three brands: The Bottle Wick, White Gate Glass (with pieces hand painted by Heidi) and Hancock Iron Works, which includes a wide array of items, from coat hooks to candle holders to wind chimes.

We talked with Ken about what inspires his work. Here’s what he had to say…

Many Boyd & Doyle items seem to be grounded in nature. Do you find inspiration in the outdoors?

Heidi and I love nature and have always spent time in the outdoors. We are most often outside gardening on our property, hiking and cycling in the mountains of New Hampshire, or escaping to the Maine coast.

Where else do you find ideas for your work?

The main driver is what our customers need and want. We often have customers looking for a certain design, and we create an item to fill that need. We ask customers for direction, then we look for ideas either out in the field through antique items or from friends who have been great for suggesting designs.

What’s your favorite item from your catalog?

I like The Bottle Wick, which was my first item for Boyd & Doyle. It allows you to transform a nice bottle – which would otherwise sit on a shelf collecting dust – into a candle. We have three 19^th century bottles with Wicks on our dining room table.

What do you like best about your work?

During the last 18 years, we’ve had so many calls from people telling us how much they like what we do. It makes us happy when a person sends pictures of our products in their homes. You know they love it if they go to that kind of trouble just to say thanks.

The Candle Wick and several Hancock Iron Works items are included in the fine selection of home goods offered by local vendors at The Rocks Marketplace. The Marketplace opens for the season next Monday, November 7, and will be open daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Christmas tree sales at The Rocks begin November 19!