KCHG & HOME . INTERIOR . OUTDOOR . LIFESTYLE
Living in a
House of Glass BY BROOKE PEARL
PHOTOS
BY
PA U L B O N N I C H S E N
Blown glass art, that is. A collection of global art takes center stage in this home, each piece telling its own story.
D
ennis and Marsha Hupfer, longtime antique dealers
who have traveled all over the country for shows,
recently retired to Shawnee, bringing with them numerous, one-of-akind blown-glass art that’s almost too perfect to touch. When they moved to the area in June 2009, all they had with them was a few antiques and their favorite glass art pieces that sat wrapped up in boxes in the garage until they found Becky Mosby, Allied member ASID, owner of Edgevale Interiors. She helped them properly move in, providing design advice and custom-made cabinets that exquisitely showcase each and every precious piece of art. “What Becky had to do was find cabinets that not only showed off our glass pieces but would also look good in this house,” Marsha says.
Topic of Conversation For the sitting room, Mosby selected a red GuildMaster coffee table, which she says is a color that makes everybody happy (it’s her favorite), polished with a crackle finish and hammered nail detailing. Its glass top prominently displays the Hupfers’ fine collection of blown-glass paperweights, including Millefiori, meaning “thousand flowers” in Italian; Orient & Flume, intricate, three-dimensional designs encased in clear glass; and a few snakeskin marble pieces. The custom-built alder, Tudor-style hutch with custom crown molding fits like a glove in the alcove. Inside rests numerous art glass pieces (Marsha’s favorites); Sabino crystal infused with 24K gold that shimmers in the light; Italian Armani statues, and more Orient & Flume pieces. Marsha dusts each piece herself, which keeps her appreciation alive. “If you don’t play or mess with it, you’ll forget how beautiful the glass is,” she says. Sitting beside the hutch in a reproduction Chinese export porcelain vase, Venetian canes grab as much attention as the jewels inside the cabinet.
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