For classic suits and classy jewelry, Westporters head to Mitchells. If you’re looking for music, it’s Sally’s Place.
But where do you go for all your custom stained glass needs?
Try Renaissance Studio. It’s a bit off the beaten path — in the back of a handsome home on Imperial Avenue — but it’s a one-stop shop for designing, creating, repairing and restoring stained (and clear leaded) glass windows.
Plus very cool glass etching, bowl making, and anything else your parents told you you’d never make a living doing.
Owner/artisan Peter Green keeps a low profile. He’s been in town since 1969, but last week was the first time I’d heard of him. True, I don’t have a lot of stained glass needs, but still…
Peter — who grew up in Yorktown Heights, and always had an artistic bent — started his Westport business in an old fieldstone ice weighing station next to Nash’s Pond. He then moved to Saugatuck Avenue.
His current digs — the house dates back to 1890 — are very cool. Peter designed all 3 floors to his specs. He’s got a wood shop, a wall where he draws his designs, welding equipment, and hundreds of brushes and jars of pulverized glass.
So who buys stained glass?
Nope — not churches. It’s mostly homeowners, he says, looking to spiff up an entryway, skylight or room divider — or creatively make sure no one from outside can peer into a bathroom. Wine cellars are big too.
When he worked near Nash’s Pond, Peter would close down at midday for a swim. Now he swims at the Y. He hopes to donate a work for their new pool.
“I’d love to give back to one of the few nurturing towns in the country willing and able to make my dreamed-of life become a reality,” he says. Peter is inspired by the philanthropy of Westporters like the Mitchell and Paul Newman families.
Just as his work inspires many others. Even if we’ve never heard Peter Green’s name.
Beautiful!
Never ceases to amaze, the Westport gems 06880 finds.
Thank you Dan for writing about Peter Green…my husband Tom & I know of his work & not only is he gifted but a sweetheart…so is Tina! Betty Lou Cummings
How beautiful Peter. Westport is fortunate to have you.
Bev Breault
Sarasota, FL
I met Peter in his swim suit and bathing cap OUTSIDE the YMCA one cold day recently. I asked him if he was lost (inferring that in the maze of the Y, he could get lost) but he replied that he like to chill down before his swim. An hour later, we were still talking. He is a most interesting man with obvious definite talent. He wants to donate one of his works to either the New YMCA or the exisiting facility. They would be foolish to refuse but . . . we shall see.