1150 50
In the early 1980s, Ipekjian purchased property to build a
3,000-square-foot shop. Infl ation and rising interest rates kept
him from building for a few years, but eventually he built the
shop he works in today. He moved out for a few years to a
larger shop full of old machinery, but came back to his original
location three years ago when the city needed his property.
For the last 13 years, Ipekjian has worked almost exclusively
on reproducing the work that Peter and John Hall originally
made for Greene and Greene.
Some of the vintage, industrial-size machinery made the
return trip to his current shop, including an Oliver sliding table
saw, one of the widest jointers I’ve ever seen, and an ancient
yet effi cient mortiser. In a small room at the back of the shop
is a fully equipped machine shop. This remnant from Ipekjian’s
days as a model maker allows him to fabricate metal parts and
hardware when he needs to.
Just inside the front door sit reproductions of two differ-
ent Greene and Greene chairs, and the Gamble house’s entry
table. "That’s my showroom," says the soft-spoken craftsman.
"Nothing fancy; I think the work speaks for itself." I spent
two days looking at original pieces by Greene and Greene
before visiting Ipekjian’s shop; to say I was impressed would
be a serious understatement. Except for a lack of aged patina,
his reproductions were the equal of the originals down to the
smallest detail.
As Ipekjian explains the details of how a drawer was made,
his enthusiasm and knowledge of his work become appar-
ent. He actually has more years of experience working on this
furniture than the original makers did. The pieces he has re-
constructed range from tiny jewel-like inlays and intricate light
fi xtures to the timber-framed pergola of the Blacker house in
Pasadena, Calif.
Ipekjian is self-taught. His earlier career gave him the ability
to work precisely, and helped him to develop excellent prob-
lem-solving skills. "I enjoy the challenge of fi guring it out," he
An ancient, but accurate Oliver sliding table saw and fl oor-to-ceiling stacks
of lu m b e r o ccu py t h e b ac k h al f of t h e s h o p.Not many one-man shops have a 20" jointer like this vintage machine, but
then again, not many one-man shops produce work at the level of quality
and detail that Jim Ipekjian does.M u c h of I p e k jian’s w o r k r e q uir e s d e t ailin g by h an d , as in t h e s e c ar v e d t ab l e l e g s.1 148-153_Greene&GreeneStyle.indd 150 48 - 153 _Greene&GreeneStyle.indd 150 3 3/25/13 9:55 AM/ 25 / 13 9 : 55 AM