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Keeping the Light On

Billy Hoff, a master craftsman and painter based in West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, is dedicated to preserving the historical art of handmade lamps and lanterns through his business, Lamplighter Corner Inc. He inherited the business, originally established by Hollis W. Fisher, an electrical contractor who began restoring and reproducing classic 19th-century lanterns after an accident in 1967. Hoff, who moved to the Vineyard in 2001 and acquired Lamplighter Corner in 2007, operates his workshop out of Middletown Nursery, owned by his brother John. His main focus is crafting nine distinct styles of street, ship, barn, and tavern lanterns from copper or brass, with prices ranging from $800 to $1,600. Each lantern requires one to two days of work, with the triangular tavern lantern, based on a design found by Fisher in Pennsylvania and historically used along the eastern seaboard, being the most time-intensive. Hoff’s business thrives purely on word-of-mouth referrals, largely from renowned builders and architects such as Robert A. M. Stern and Patrick Ahearn. He has completed significant commissions, including twenty-three identical exterior lights for a Stern client in the Hamptons, totaling $33,000. Architects like Ahearn find Hoff’s fixtures to be a fitting complement to their homes, particularly within the Edgartown Historic District. Hoff’s craft involves transforming sheets of copper through traditional methods like cutting, scoring, folding, crimping, soldering, and riveting, using tools inherited from Fisher’s workshop. His only modern equipment includes a soldering iron and a drill press. Beyond traditional lanterns, Hoff also designs and creates unique lighting fixtures using sculptural found objects, ranging from doorknobs to his first car’s silver nameplate. Notably, he was commissioned by interior designer Michael S. Smith to create a hoop chandelier for State Road Restaurant in West Tisbury, incorporating a John Deere tractor rim to align with the restaurant’s locally sourced food concept. Currently, he is crafting eight contemporary exterior lights for a home in Menemsha. Hoff acknowledges the niche nature of his profession, noting that only about five American makers still hand-craft lamps and lanterns. Despite the craft being considered “a decidedly marginal occupation” in modern times, Hoff expresses deep satisfaction in creating high-quality, durable products by hand in an era dominated by mass-produced, disposable goods. In addition to his lampmaking, Hoff is an accomplished oil painter. His works, described by one art critic as “inscrutable images, ambiguous, dreamlike,” have been exhibited at the A Gallery and the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. Three large five-by-seven-foot paintings, including one he started in graduate school, adorn his workshop walls. Hoff, who holds a bachelor of fine arts from Ithaca College and a master of fine arts from the Art Institute of Chicago, reflects on his artistic journey, humorously remarking, “It’s the journey, man.” At fifty-five, Hoff is uncertain about the future of Lamplighter Corner, as his daughters, Chloe and Hannah, are unlikely to take over the business. He speculates that his brother's sons might eventually develop an interest in continuing the craft. #Lampmaking #HandmadeLanterns #ArtisanCraftsmanship #Martha'sVineyard #HistoricPreservation #CopperCrafts #ArchitecturalLighting #CustomLighting #TraditionalCrafts #Lampmaking #HandmadeLanterns #ArtisanCraftsmanship #Martha'sVineyard #HistoricPreservation #CopperCrafts #ArchitecturalLighting #CustomLighting #TraditionalCrafts

35 months ago

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