Victorian Clock Tower
10' x 10' x 32' (L x W x H)

The Victorian Clock Tower was designed to display a giant historic clock, an E. Howard Company #3 in the collection of the Sanfilippo Foundation in Barrington Hills, IL. The tower combines more than 14 tons of hand forged elements, castings, stampings, ornamental and structural steel. It was designed for the owner by architect Lee Pharr.

Decorative pressed steel sheet used in the tower’s capitals and cornices came from the W.F. Norman Company’s 1909 “Hi-Art” catalog still available today. Six other specialty services and suppliers provided parts and pieces for the project. The tower was assembled in eight sections including three upper frames, four column assemblies and the base.

After ten months in construction the tower was assembled and the clockworks were installed by experts on the foundation staff. Operational fittings and adjustments took another year before the historic clock was restored to working order.

A specialist on the Foundation staff designed and applied the elaborate painted and gilded finish. Equally ornate and unusual mechanical antiques surround the tower in its permanent setting.

The tower is a notable example of versatility, collaboration, and cooperation with numerous technical and professional specialists in the fabrication of a very large, technically complex structure. A description of this project appeared as a "Tips & Tactics Case Study" in Fabricator Magazine, the official publication of the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA), Jul-Aug, 2011.


The Victorian Clock Tower was published in "Ironwork Today 2: Inside and Out" (p. 253-4 - Schiffer Publishing- December, 2008)