The proof is in the pivot

Pivoting doors are a great architectural addition to any home or office. Not only are they modern-looking and great space-savers, they’re much more sustainable compared to side-hinge doors.

Pivoting door hinges work on an efficient off-set axis installed vertically into the door, a much more physics-friendly method, while traditional doors rely on a set of side hinges, a method that does not distribute weight equally and can experience more wear-and-tear.

We are now offering pivoting door systems. Contact us with any questions about installing one in your space. Also, check out this video to watch how pivoting doors work

WORLD-CLASS BUSINESS Downtown residents bring European flair to Journal Square By John A. Martins | Reporter Staff writer

Hidden behind a gas station on Kennedy Boulevard, standing unassumingly near State Highway 139, there's a gray warehouse containing a veritable trove of rare European treasures.
The architectural salvage business, run by a group of local 20- and 30- something, is stocked with ornate exterior and interior doorways, structural ironwork and an array of decorative objects that had their beginnings in the palatial homes and grandiose architecture of Europe's magnificent past.
The company, dubbed Amighini Architectural after the family name of three of the business' principals, moved to the area in November and has been steadily progressing in making a name for itself in the regional salvage business.
Having taken part in two regional trade shows this year, the company is getting ready to attend another in Atlantic City in October. And like the objects the company saves from being destroyed, the young company's presence near Journal Square signals the spillover effect of Downtown's Renaissance into other city neighborhoods.

Historical beginnings

Comprised of designers, architects and engineers, the company is manned day-to-day by Downtown Jersey City residents and husband and wife team Patricia Molteni, 30, and Mariano Molteni, 29. The other principals, the Amighini brothers, travel regularly for business' other operations. The Moltenis and Amighinis are connected through a childhood friendship between Mariano Molteni and one of the Amighini brothers, who both grew up in Argentina.
The three brothers - 28-year-old Sebastian, 31-year-old Cristian and 32-year-old Adrian - are the fourth generation of a family that has long been in the business of demolition in Europe, and the company's inventory of items comes from the pieces the elder Amighinis have salvaged from their demolition project in Europe and South America.
The Amighini family has stored their salvaged items in warehouses located in Spain and Argentina. The collection - which has over the years acquired pieces from churches, homes and castles in both Italy and France - runs a wide range of decorative styles.
Ironworks, in the form of balconies or entry gates, comes with intricate detail in the style that was traditional for the time and place in which the piece was created. Doorways with magnificent, carved frames and beautifully crafted stained glass come in periods from Classical French to Art Deco.
The Moltenis, recent New York transplants who said they were enticed across the river by Jersey City's more reasonable rents, share sales and administrative responsibilities at the company's Beacon Avenue showroom. When Patricia Molteni was looking for a studio space in which to create her sculpture, she came upon the buildings at 246 Beacon Ave. When she also found out that Sebastian Amighini, 29, was looking for a space in the New York area to open up a showroom to display his family's acquisitions, she told him about her real estate find. It was then that the two families decided to go into business together.
And while no other business like Amighini Architectural exist in the Hudson County, the Moltenis and Amighinis say they have adapted well to the space and that local residents are receptive to their presence.

A new approach

What sets them apart from their competitors, Patricia Molteni said, is that the group offers a holistic, full-service approach. Whereas other companies just sell the objects and offer no further assistance, Amighini Architectural will sit down with prospective clients and work extensively to satisfy what the customer is looking for.
This involves basic services, like looking over blueprints to match Amighini inventory with the overall design of the pre-determined space, and more time- and labor-intensive projects, like working with the Amighinis' many contacts in Europe and South America to find the object the customer is looking for." We find jewels around the world and find pieces that can fit into today's contemporary designs," Sebastian Amighini said last week.
The group has a refreshingly laid-back attitude and is willing to lend their design, architectural and engineering expertise to the client's projects.
Patricia Molteni says she and her partners take particular care in helping their customers because they want to give the pieces they salvaged a second chance at life.
When doorways are removed from their original locations, they are sent to a warehouse in Argentina where they are stripped, treated and restored to their original beauty. The company's iron objects first go through a facility in Italy, because the artist the Amighinis use to restore iron work lives there.

Interest in the community

When the architectural objects are placed at the Beacon Avenue warehouse, they are arranged to interact with other, more decorative items collected from various locations.
A number of candelabras removed from a demolished church in Milan sit atop a bureau originally from the home of the brother-in-law of the famous Argentinean intellectual and author, Jose Luis Borges. Fireplaces and ceramic tile, along with other antique objects, are placed in showroom's front yard.
In an effort to more firmly entrench its presence in the city, Patricia Molteni said the company is interested in partnering with local preservation groups like the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. Molteni also said she has spoken with municipal employees at the City Hall to tell them of Amighini Architectural's presence in the city and their willingness to work with the community.
Molteni said the company is excited to be in Jersey City and sense that Jersey City residents are excited by them, as well.
"We love it," Molteni said. "It's convenient because people in the area don't have anything like it. People can come over after brunch and take a look. It's a nice space. It looks like the area is going to grow, and we want to grow with it.

AMIGHINI ARCHITECTURAL MERGES BEAUTY, ART AND HISTORY By Deborah Kanter

The partners at Salvage Antiques have traveled worldwide to acquire their current inventory on display on their newly opened Beacon Avenue, jersey city location. Their showroom features over 500 distinct pieces including wooden doors, vitraux, iron entry gates, balconies, fireplaces, titles, armoires and more-each with its own history.

The collection includes architectural pieces from multiple styles such as - Classical French, Victorian, Provencal, Gothic, Tudor, Art-Noveau, and Art Deco. All items are original and have been meticulously restored to maintain original appearance.

Magnificent handcrafted, hand forged doors highlight the spectacular inventory. "Every door has its own history," Patricia Molteni, Marketing Director, said. "I get attached to the doors, she added, and it is easy to see why by looking at the intricate details, including iron inserts, hand painted moldings, stained glass arches, carved hand knobs, knockers, and learning the background of each piece.

We will help clients put together their home if they want to use our doors. If they are custom building their home they can include interior and exterior door measurements in their plans, "Patricia explained, adding that home décor can include period pieces and accessories found at Amighini.

Furniture, mirrors, windows, and accessories abound. Find a 120-year-old hand made birdcage resembling wooden tree branches constructed of cement with stained glass windows and multiple doors or a stunning ceiling vitraux with an array of colors projecting from behind intricate designs. Discover a quadruple panel Iron Gate with oval shaped marble inserts and hand forged wrought iron geometric shapes and small flower motifs, balconies, religious, pieces, majolica, mosaics and marble tiles, fireplaces and more.

If the client has an idea or a specific item in mind, Amighini will try to locate it. "We will look, we will research, "Patricia said. Clients include homeowners, antiques dealers, and homebuilders. They will also work with move and television set designers. "Originally we wanted to sell only wholesale, but our customer base has grown so," she added. Amighini Will work within a variety of price ranges.

For over 40 years, the Amighini family, three generations of experience professional decorators, architects and engineers have worked together as project advisors. They will supervise salvage efforts worldwide and subsequent renovation and cleaning moldings, doors, furniture, windows, mirrors, accessories and more. With growing and continuing recognition, Amighini Architectural continues to receive artifacts from all over the world. Recent accomplishments include participation in the select 2003 Architectural Digest Exhibit.
"The Jersey City showroom is significant milestone for our growing company. Our goal is to provide beautiful and unique pieces to our customers, and we are pleased to showcase our exclusive collections to the local community," commented Sebastian Amighini, one of the founders of Amighini Architectural.

"We give everything a second chance," Patricia Molteni noted. A visit to Amighini Architectural will give you the chance to acquire rare structural and decorative pieces called from historic residences, palaces, parks, hotels and buildings worldwide.

Showroom hours are 9 A.M.-5 P.M. Tuesday through Friday and 10 A.M.-6 P.M., Saturday and Sunday. For more information visit Amighini Architectural Inc., 246 Beacon Ave., Jersey City, 201.222.6367 or visit their web site, www.amighini.net

DEMOLICIONES PARA EL EXTERIOR.El desguace de construcciones antiguas se está convirtiendo en una fuente de productos exportables. Claves de esta tendencia. Los precios y las formas de contratar una demolición

La demolición tuvo su época de oro en los años 70, cuando se tiraron abajo cientos de edificios. Sin embargo, hoy, con menos demoliciones a la vista, el negocio de desarmar casas está abriendo un nuevo canal de comercialización: la exportación.

Hace treinta años, la demolición de petit hoteles y casas con revestimientos y escaleras de marmol, trabajos de herrería o espectaculares vitreaux sirvió para alimentar la moda de los reciclajes. Ahora, gracias a la devaluación, las empresas que manejan el mercado top de las demoliciones comienzan a ofrecer sus mejores piezas en los Estados Unidos.

La firma Amighini, por ejemplo, comenzó su actividad hace 50 años y exporta materiales desde 1991. Ahora tiene un local en Nueva Jersey. "Por el negocio de Jersey City pasa gente de todos los Estados Unidos y a nuestro país vienen vecinos europeos y australianos", señala Adrián Amighini, y destaca la falta de artesanos en el Primer Mundo. "No hay quién restaure vitreaux y copie rejas como acá", agrega.


PARA REFLEXIONAR... Amighini destaca que la ventaja de los negocios de demolición en los Estados Unidos consiste en que los anticuarios de allá no tienen balcones, molduras, puertas y trabajos de herrería. "Hay un potencial enorme para poder expandir el negocio en el extranjero y en el mercado interno", señala. Y ofrece algunos datos: quienes se dedican a rescatar el hierro de las demoliciones ahora tienen un buen negocio porque el precio subió. Los especialistas aseguran que también hay oportunidades para quienes se dedican a las chapas de cinc y, en especial a la madera pinotea, que ya no se consigue nueva.

Esta gran variedad de trabajos originó novedosas modalidades de contratación:
-El que rompe paga. El contratista ofrece un precio por la demolición y se hace cargo de dejar el terreno pelado. Esta decisión queda en manos de la empresa de demolición porque los precios varián según sea el valor de los materiales con los que este cosntruída la casa.
-No paga nadie. La epresa de demolición se cobra el trabajo con el material rescatado.
-Paga el propietario. En este caso, el dueño del edificio paga por los servicios de demolición y se hace cargo de los seguros, fletes y acarreos en obra.

Las formas de vender una demolición son infinitas y, pensando en el mercado exterior, están apareciendo modalidades cada vez mas sofisticadas. En una oportunidad, Amighini mandó a los Estados Unidos la filmación de una casa casi vendió la demolición completa.

BROWNSTONER -BROOKLYN INSIDE AND OUT-A Brownstone's Age? prefinished or site finished
FORUM: Huge Mess

Huge Mess

I have a 3 family brownstone and am finishing up a renovation. I am now to the front doors and here is Brownstone problem #923. I am on my last nerve. These doors are double doors and were painted a matte black and had lovely glass plexiglass inserts, which I was going to replace with beveled glass. I was planning on doing some repair to the doors (strip the paint, sand, wood filler, etc and repaint).

I arrived home from work on Friday to see what my contractor had someone do. One of the doors was slathered in nasty pinkish brown wood putty, applied like plaster in glumps with apparantly the intention of sanding it down and painting. He told me that the doors were a wood patchwork, apparantly 100 years of repairs and attempted repairs. Apparantly someone took a heat gun and burned them and the bottoms have wood rot. Well, wood putty is obviously not the solution to wood rot and burned doors. In fact the unpainted wood putty is already flaking off this Monday am.

I guess that this might be a common situation -- Paint holding together an antique patchwork of wood. My building has become an eyesore in one day. I asked the contractor to scrape off the wood putty, sand the doors as best as possible and make them as presentable for now by painting the door for now that was stripped until I can figure out how to really repair them. One is also badly warped, apparantly that one has a grafted plank of wood (a repair?) that has contributed to that.

The worker also dripped stripper and black paint over the plexiglass door "window", which of course doesn't come off (any way I know), so I am stuck with this crap until I decide what to do with this set of doors.

I may have to spring for a new door. It is a simple design with a large panel of "glass" in each double door.

Does anyone has any experience with this kind of door mess?

Does it sound salvagable or do I go to a mill shop and bit the bullet for a new door or are there first aid methods?

That is the first question. The second question is for experienced brownstoners. Is there light at the end of the renovation tunnel? Is it a train? Aside from the fact that I have been building a good head of steam with my contractor about different problems, I think I am just tired of this. This is a shameless bid for encouragement. Thank you.

Posted by Anon at 2:38 PM | Comments (6)
Categories: Doors

Comments

THE HUDSON REPORTER
AN AMIGHINI DOOR ADDS A TOUCH OF CLASS: "Doors of Distinction"
By Kate Rounds
Photos John Tichenor

Every beautiful home deserves an elegant entrance.

Amighini Architectural sits at the end of a fairly humdrum block in the Jersey City Heights like a cool hood ornament on an old jalopy. Gracefully curved wrought iron gates, fine wood doors, antiques, original ceramic tiles, moldings, stained glass domes, mantels, balconies, and fences are all displayed out front.

The Amighini family of Verona, Italy, has been going strong for more than 45 years, salvaging rare doors and other decorative pieces from exquisite buildings all over Europe and South America. Sales Manager Mariano Molteni says that he found his way to Jersey City because his wife was from New York City, and it would be hard to run this kind of operation from there.

When a house or castle in Europe has been emptied of furniture, the Amighinis spring into action. "Whatever is left, we take," Molteni says-"doors, fireplaces, chandeliers." In Verona, a staff of 24 salvages the pieces, and in Jersey City a staff of four restores them to their original elegance. "There's a story behind every piece," says Molteni. "They're not plastic-they have personality."

He explains that old wood is better than new because it's dry. "With the heat inside and the cold outside, new wood will start to twist," he says, "and the old wood is so solid that a nail will bend if you try to pound it in." He illustrates with a bent index finger.

The price range for a lovingly restored Amighini door is $1,000 to $25,000.

"I tell people to be ready for a big change," Molteni says. "Our doors are not like what you see everywhere else."

Amighini doors grace homes on a number of Jersey City streets-Bentley, Harrison, Seventh, Sussex, Third, Varick, and Warren, to name a few. Happy hunting.

BROOKLYN'S REAL NEWSPAPER
REPLACEMENTS FOR BROWNSTONE DOORS
By Mariel Cohn

Replacements for brownstone doors.

Dozens of the beautiful doors you’ve seen while walking past Brooklyn’s historic brownstones have been replaced or restored by Amighini Architectural of Jersey City. This family business is dedicated to providing rare doors, structural and decorative elements culled and salvaged from historic residences, palaces, parks, hotels and other buildings from throughout the world.

All items are 100 percent original and have been restored to maintain their original likeness. In its 20,000 square foot showroom, Amighini offers thousands of unique, unusual, and hard-to-find home decor items. They also fabricate many specialty items such as wrought iron gates and balconies, doors, stained glass, and windows from antique wood and lumber.

Visit their website, www.amighini.net or stop by their showroom to find the right piece for your next project.

Amighini Architectural’s showroom is open weekdays 9 am to 6 pm, Saturdays 10 am to 6 pm. They accept Visa and MasterCard.

BROOKLYN'S REAL NEWSPAPER
BUSINESS BRIEFS
By Laura Schwartzberg

Find your brownstone’s perfect front door.

If you are looking for the perfect antique door to show off your historic brownstone, Amighini Architectural is the place to go.
With over one thousand doors to choose from, it is almost impossible to leave Amghini’s 20,000 square foot showroom without the door of your dreams.
This family business of 45 years travels the world to find heirloom doors from abandoned or demolished palaces, parks, hotels and historic residences that can then be installed directly into your home. Each door is unique, unusual, and has been fully restored to its original beauty.
Moreover, Amighini not only installs one-of-a-kind doors, but also salvages and creates many distinct accessories for your home, such as wrought iron gates, balconies, stained glass, and windows from vintage lumber and materials.

Although located in Jersey City, Amighini has installed dozens of doors on historic homes in Brownstone Brooklyn and will gladly cater to your specific needs. You can begin your shopping experience on line at www.amighini.net