One afternoon in May of 2000, "little" Wally asked me to stop by his shop to take a look at a project he was working on. I expected to see maybe a fancy model airplane, perhaps a jewelry box; because as usual, Wally was very low key—like it was no big deal. I walked into his shop and this is what I saw.

He told me that it had taken him two years to build the two matching commodes. He worked on them in his spare time—which doesn't amount to much because he works 50-60 hrs per week. The only word I can think of to describe them is ˜magnificent!!

A woman saw the 1800 originals in a museum and wanted to buy them for her foyer. They were priced at $150, 000. She contacted my brother because she had seen his work in a magazine and he agreed to build them for her at a substantially lower price. He had no plans, but visited the museum and looked them over.

The commodes are made of mahogany, (veneered) with black inlay. The drawer pulls are custom made of gold and cost over $1000 per chest. The entire top of each chest is a hidden drawer—tops are marble. There are gold leaf carvings on both chests, the feet are carved claws. They are just unbelievable!

My Dad did not get to see these but needless to say—he would have been thrilled.