Monday, May. 23, 2005
If you've ever walked into a church and thought, "That pulpit would look perfect in my garden," LASSCO St. Michael's might be able to help. Based in a converted Victorian church in the heart of London, LASSCO sells everything from ecumenical artifacts to secular statuary. When a developer guts a chapel or strips the original features from a Georgian home, LASSCO's experts will carefully salvage the architectural antiques. The firm's cavernous St. Michael's warehouse is jammed with around $7.5 million worth of curios. A set of elegantly cast stair spindles removed from the Royal Albert Hall (a bargain at $320 each) sits next to an enormous 1850s mahogany display case ($13,200) that originally held flora specimens at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. A regularly updated list of antiques can be found at
www.lassco.co.uk, or call (44-20) 7749 9944. Manager Anthony Reeve hasn't sold any of London's bridges yet, but it can only be a matter of time.
- Theunis Bates
- Architectural salvage means you can buy a slice of history for your own castle
