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!