Bixby Bottles, Three Sisters, AGA Cookers,
and Concrete Countertops

by Jim Peterson, President, ConcreteNetwork.Com

Click on any picture for a larger view

3 sisters exterior view
Three homes for
three sisters.

brick arch
Color of countertops to
match crme-colored
mortar of brick.

bottles on mantle
Bottle types - some of
which were broken, and
fragments installed into
the countertops.

bixby bottle in countertop

As a Professional Civil Engineer and a dedicated craftsman, concrete countertop fabricator Jeff Girard of FormWorks promotes his ability to marry state-of-the-art engineering design with artistic creativity to produce a structurally sound product that is also aesthetically pleasing. Whew! Try to say that in one breath- and what does it mean in practical terms? Please read on to find out.

The McCraw Group is restoring one of the Three Sisters on Meeting Street. The Three Sisters is a group of three homes built by a father for his daughters in 1780 in the Historic Battery District of Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston's Historic District encompasses over 2000 historic buildings; the city and surrounding areas have a multitude of plantation houses, some of which are still in use today.

Charleston itself is rich in American History. Around 1670, three incentives drew new immigrants: free land, the titles and estates of a landed aristocracy, and religious freedom. Cultures of England, France, Germany, Iberia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, and the West Indies blended. Fast forward to the Revolution. On July 4th, 1776, Charleston was the fourth largest municipality in the colonies, the richest per capita. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence owned homes there.

Against this backdrop, FormWorks was hired by The McGraw Group to build concrete countertops to reflect the agedness and the historic character of both the area and the home. Normally when a client sends you a brick that is not a good thing- but in this case the client sent Girard of FormWorks a brick so he could match the concrete countertops color with the crme-colored mortar wash on the centuries-old bricks that were in the kitchen of the home.

During the restoration and excavation of the back yard at the home, many bottles and bottle fragments were dug up. Girard was sent a box of bottles to be broken up so the fragments cold be incorporated into the countertop's surface, providing another strong link between the new countertops and the home's rich past.

Clear, aqua, and amber colors are the most common for Bixby bottles (note the photo at right has the Y missing out of Bixby- the Y disappeared during the countertops polishing process). This bottle was most likely the base of an inkwell. A writer would dip the pen (or quill) into the well to put more ink on the pen. Because they set on a desk, inkwells were often very decorative. The larger master ink (pint or quart size) was used to store ink and refill the smaller inkwells. Inkwells were shaped so they were hard to tip over, thus the large base.

The client wanted long stretches of countertops. The sinks are cast iron and farm style. The center island is wood for cutting and chopping during the food preparation process. The cabinets are entirely hand made and hand rubbed finishes.

apron sink kitchen sink porcelain sink

Samples of how countertops abut sinks and of backsplash treatments.

Girard knew he was involved in a special project when he went to measure and build a template for the concrete countertops: the project area was immaculate. Doormats greeted the visitor, buckets for trash were set out throughout the home, no eating, smoking, or drinking were allowed, floors were swept clean constantly, the cabinets were covered with moving blankets.

Measuring properly was vital. He needed to build a piece of the countertop that would on one end abut precisely to a sink- and on the other end abut to a $12,000 AGA cooker which had been built on the premises and was totally immovable.

AGA cookers were developed by Dr. Gustaf Dalen, a world renowned Swedish physicist and Nobel Prize Winner, who had lost his sight following an explosion during an experiment with pressurized liquids and gases. Kept at home, he learned how his wife was exhausted and harassed by the constant need to care for and watch over food as it was cooked. Although unable to see, he was determined to develop a cook stove that was both capable of every culinary technique and easy to use, with perfect results. Adopting the time-honored principle of heat storage, he combined a small and efficient heat source, two large hotplates and two generous ovens into one robust and compact unit -- the AGA Cooker.

aga stove
Details of the AGA Cooker		 aga stove, corner view
Countertop abutting
the AGA Cooker

Needless to say, working for a meticulous contractor who kept the premises spotless, and an owner of the type who purchases an AGA cooker- Girard relished the challenge of building not only a beautiful countertop but having it fit on the cabinets and against the cooker and sink perfectly. "Its almost perfect" is rarely a statement made or accepted on a project like this. And keep in mind that concrete countertops are built in a shop, and then transported by truck to the job site- in this case slightly more than 250 miles from Girards shop in Raleigh, North Carolina to Charleston, South Carolina. This presents an extra challenge: how does one adequately explain a chip or crack in the countertop due to a pothole while traveling south along Interstate Highway 95?

Corner wide view bevel corner closeup longview

Various views of the countertops - Click on any picture for a larger view

This project shifted the paradigm of how Girard sees his concrete countertop fabrication business from one of making concrete countertops to one of making "special" countertops- tops which incorporate personal elements from the owner, geography, or home into the design. Constant reminders to the homes occupants of touchstones to the past right in their kitchen.

This may exemplify the most striking reason concrete is becoming so popular: it is not perfect like Corian, totally organized like tile, or predictable like granite- it can totally be personalized. In the right circumstances this can be a most desired trait.

Editors Note:

Since this project was completed in 2000, Jeff has become an industry leader, founding The Concrete Countertop Institute and teaching his engineering and artistry to contractors worldwide. Jeff can be reached at 888-386-7711 or www.ConcreteCountertopInstitute.com.

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