LIFESTYLES
WEEKEND, DECEMBER 10-11, 2016
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Frank Duff has collected hundreds of pieces of American stained glass at his home outside of Helix.
The stained glass stable
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Frank Duff holds up a piece he believes was created by famous stained glass window
maker John La Farge. La Farge was famous for the windows he created in the 1900s.
Helix couple buys, sells intricately
designed pieces from barn-turned-studio
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Frank and Nancy Rees
Duff probably have more
stained glass than any house of
worship in Umatilla County.
At the Duffs’ barn-turned-
studio north of Helix, stained
glass hangs on walls and ceil-
ings in all shapes and sizes.
There’s no unifying theme
to the collection, save Frank’s
discerning eye, and many of
these pieces will eventually
ship to other collectors across
the U.S.
As much as it is a labor of
love, the contents of the barn
are officially part of a business
— Antique American Stained
Glass Windows.
In his words, Frank began
collecting stained glass when
he worked under a “hippie”
to save stained glass that was
being thrown out as a part of
a wave of urban renewal in
Minneapolis in the 1970s.
Living in Michigan at the
time, Frank spent the ensuing
decades building contacts
that would bring him stained
glass pieces that he would turn
around and sell.
Frank grew up in Michigan
but his family has Eastern
Oregon roots, his father
having grown up on a farm off
of Highway 11 near the Helix
turnoff.
It was at a 2001 Duff family
reunion in the area where
he met Nancy, a retired art
teacher at Weston-McEwen
High School.
They hit it off and would
marry a year later, at which
time Frank had to make a
decision — whether to stay
in Flint, Michigan, or move to
Nancy’s 1,000-acre farm.
Flint’s “dire straits” made
it an easy choice, Frank said.
The Duffs are now well
established on their east
county land, the modern
nature of the internet market-
place allowing them to make
a living selling antique items.
“It’s a business you can do
out here in the sticks,” Nancy
said.
Frank said he doesn’t buy
glass that needs to be restored,
finding it too difficult to find
the right glass or frames to
restore it properly.
When he does make a
sale, Frank and Nancy often
crisscross the country to hand
deliver it so that the piece
doesn’t get damaged.
“I buy things I like
with the conceited
idea that other peo-
ple will like it too.”
— Frank Duff,
stained glass collector
Frank shies away from
buying stained glass based on
historical reputation given that
many pieces lack documen-
tation that verifies whether
it was crafted by industry
titans like La Farge or Tiffany,
making it difficult to establish
value if someone contests the
legitimacy.
“You get into the top end
of the market, provenance is
everything,” he said.
Instead, Frank selects
stained glass based on
whether it appeals to him on
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Light shines through a stained glass window depicting
wisteria vines.
a personal level.
“I buy things I like with
the conceited idea that other
people will like it too,” he
said.
Although he doesn’t usually
acquire religious stained glass
because of the difficulties, he
recently obtained a window
depicting Jesus partly because
of the way the textures and
colors varied when viewed
from each side.
While his interest in
stained glass predates Nancy,
Frank said his wife brings
important qualities to their
business, like the ability to
articulate the artistic merits
of a certain piece or provide
the occasional reminder about
why Antique American might
be going through a dry sales
period.
Frank calls it a valuable
“cross-fertilization.”
During a recent open
house, Nancy sold handmade
glass jewelery and dishware
alongside the antique glass,
bringing her own original
pieces to the mix.
All of these treasures are
tucked away in a red farm off
a dirt road, framed by wheat
fields so idyllic, it could be
the subject of a stained glass
window.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Stained glass comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes in-
cluding this curved dome piece.
Duff bought this stained glass window from a Masonic
Lodge in Saginaw, Mich.