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Rosenbaum was lucky to know “a really good restoration guy who is also a mechanic and fools around with electronics.” He also found a couple of businesses that do the type of period work he wanted, including Erickson’s Antique Stoves in Littleton, Mass., and City Lights Antique Lighting in Cambridge. After the home went on the Internet he started hearing from other artisans and now has access to a range of artisans who work on Steampunk projects.


He says that the best projects to start with are in areas of the home where there is technology: kitchens, home offices, and home theaters. The result can look pure 19th Century or it can be a blend. “We had a boring 42” plasma TV. We found a mantel that had a mirror above it and put the TV in the mirror frame. The wires are hidden behind the wall, and the TV is on a hinge so you can access them.”


On the other hand he converted an old photographer stand into a computer by visibly attaching a Mac mini computer to it. “We’re celebrating the computer. It’s so small and so beautiful with brushed aluminum that I work it into the design and don’t try to hide it.”


But while both may both be examples of good design, the computer company, whose products last a few years at best, could learn a lot from the stand maker. “Steampunk goes back to a time when things had beauty and quality, and were made with pride. One reason we use items from the Victorian period is that there is a lot of that stuff still around because it was made so well,” says Rosenbaum. “They only knew how to make things that last forever.”


Another Steampunk computer workstation. In the corner is a drafting table from the late 1800s.

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