Cover Story

It’s everywhere: Copper makes a comeback

By Jill Sell

Sell is a free-lance writer

You’re standing on your friends’ front porch, waiting for them to answer the door. When you casually glance to your right, you see a very attractive copper chain where normally a downspout might be located. The chain includes a vertical row of what looks like inverted bells. How pretty and clever, you think, not knowing that the rain chain actually has a very practical

purpose.

“Rain chains are sometimes used at front entries because they are more sightly than a downspout coming down from the roof or gutter. Instead of trying to hide the downspout, the rain chain is more of an accent. They aren’t always practical, but in areas where there’s not a whole lot of water, rain chains work pretty well. They are actually pretty amazing,” said Sock Woodruff, owner of Custom Gutter in Lake Forest, Ill., and a regional distributor of exterior, residential copper products manufactured by Rain Trade Corp.

Rain chains can take the form of fluted cups, tulips, lilies, traditional or double loop chains and are made from copper or brass. After the water follows the chain downward, it can fill a lovely copper, brass, stone or wooden bowl and overflow like a mini-waterfall, or simply run into a flowerbed or a yard. (Prices range from about $80 to $200.)

Rain chains are just one of the clever and attractive ways copper is dressing the exteriors of our homes. Copper is hardly a new architectural element, having been used for homes (especially in Europe) for centuries. (It is also man’s oldest metal, dating back to more than 10,000 years.) But because of its timeless beauty and practicality, copper is making a statement with today’s new homes and correctly done restorations.

We’ll be seeing more copper shingles, traditional gutters and downspouts and rain chains, as well as ornamental gutters and conductor heads, weathervanes, cupola covers, finials, gutter hangers and downspout brackets (think of them as bracelets for your downspout), gutter end caps and gutter medallions (little decorative “brooches” in the shape of leaves, flowers, shells, animals or family crests or initials).

Copper Stats (complied by the

Copper Development Association)

• An average single-family home uses 439 pounds of copper.

• About 10,000 copper range hoods and 20,000 weathervane are

produced annually, using about seven pounds of copper each.

• There are about a billion doorknobs in the U.S., weighing in with

about 500-600 million pounds of copper.

• Grandfather clocks average nine pounds of copper.

• A solid brass bed weighs 60 pounds.

Believe it or not, copper gargoyles are showing up on more high-end homes. (Gargoyles were originally water spouts in the shape of a grotesque human being or animal, which projected from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear.

Stoneridge Condominiums located in Bainbridge Township is a new “village”

designed by Anthony Paskevich & Associates Architects and Planners. The upscale “country village homes” feature one- and two-story floor plans ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 square feet. The builders involved in this intriguing plan include Stoneridge Land Co. Ltd., T. Medhurst Builders Inc. and Payne & Payne Builders. Copper is used as decorative element on many of the homes.

“We think the use of copper will add to the aesthetic value of the homes and set

our project apart from the average construction project,” said Jerry Petersen, a principal with Stoneridge Land. Co. “The idea at Stoneridge is to create an English or European flavor with 40 homes clustered on 200 acres. When people leave Stoneridge after looking at our homes, we want them to remember a few outstanding features. Copper on the roofs will be one of those.”

Woodruff believes the reason most home buyers like copper is its beauty. Copper accents above bay windows or on cupolas, or used for chimney surrounds, for example, “can break up a really large expanse of roof,” creating a more interesting and pleasing look. But Woodruff also reminds homeowners that copper comes from the old European tradition where things “were meant to last generations,” and that they should also appreciate its “longevity and benefits.”

“Copper seems like a very trendy product right now, but it’s very practical and economical. In America, we don’t always understand why we should spend a bit more money today, but still have the benefits and value 30 to 40 years from now,” said Woodruff.

The renaissance of