Batchelder Tile Sunroom (c) Minneapolis 1906

Back

It's true The people who were readying to demo the space & bring it up to date, were just a few minutes from taking those sledge hammers to that little sunroom of tiles. When it was all done we salvaged over 6,000 tiles from that little tile company called Batchelder.   The saving of those over 6,000 tiles included a mantle, a 6 foot wall fountain, several wall cabinets & assorted wall planters.  All from Batchelder Tile Company.

Ernest Batchelder and the Batchelder Tile Company was produced primarily in the midwest but shipped throughout the nation.  As a mail order product, the consumer to choose from several 'nature' based motifs and field tile, all in Batchelder's trademark 'buff' glaze.  Seen here is the variety of motifs, bird and botanical as well as the classic dutchmen with pipe to finish off the fireplace mantel.

The Salvage Process took several days as each tile was removed by carefully chiseling out sections of tile and removing the 80 year-old adhesive.  As the tiles were removed, each portion;  fireplace, window boxes and fountain was separately labeled and packed so the individual sections of the sunroom could be transported and reconstructed for resale.  The six-thousand tile salvaged was quickly sold to a collector/housing developer in New Jersey.  The customer/conniseur was familar with Batchelder but had not come across such a large variety of tiles in one salvage, including the lovely detailed motifs.  The sunroom and it's valuable collection represented many opportunities for reuse and new life to a highly sought after collection of American Arts and Crafts tile.