Burnham and LaRoche Associates was formed to bring together the talents and resources of two of the oldest and most distinguished stained glass studios in the United States.
The merger of the Wilbur H. Burnham Studio and the LaRoche Studio allowed a coming together of expertise in the two vital areas of stained glass craftsmanship: the preservation and restoration of historic stained glass windows and the design and execution of new work in both traditional and contemporary styles.
The Burnham side of the family was founded in 1922 and has had an uninterrupted history of producing outstanding stained glass windows throughout this country and Europe. Among the most notable commissions have been seventeen windows for the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., all the windows and the murals for St. Mary’s Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois and ten windows for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and five for the Riverside Church, both in New York City.
The significant contribution of the Wilbur H. Burnham Studio to the history of art in America led to its selection by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the four finest stained glass studios in the country. The designs and records of the studio will be stored for posterity in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art for the use of art historians and other scholars.
The older half of Burnham and LaRoche Associates, the LaRoche Studio, was founded in 1895 as a conservator and restorer of significant stained glass windows. A close association with the Charles J. Connick Studio, another noted Boston firm, led to restoration of their earlier windows while the Connick staff concentrated on new work in the Gothic Revival style where they were pre- eminent. The LaRoche Studio has also frequently been called upon to restore windows by Tiffany and other well known artists.
Now, with well over a century of tradition behind it Burnham and LaRoche Associates boasts a staff of fully qualified personnel and associated specialists with long experience in stained glass as well as an active apprentice program to assure well trained craftspeople for the future. They are ready to consult with you on a program of creation or restoration of your stained glass and eager to measure up to the significant achievements of the studio’s history.
