For immediate useSept. 15, 1997 -- No. 638

UNC-CH architect to unveil `remarkable' railway station

By DAVID WILLIAMSON

UNC-CH News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Architects stopped designing highly ornate Victorian railway stations near the end of the Victorian period, but Gordon Rutherford not only designed the world's newest one, he also built it with his bare hands.

The task took but a year-and-a-half, between hurricanes, and he did it in his Raleigh basement in his spare time. “Rewbotham Station” may be one-twelfth the size of a real depot, but it is guaranteed to be more pleasing to modern observers, especially younger ones.

The new station will be unveiled for the first time at the 13th annual Piedmont Miniatures Show and Sale at the Radisson hotel at 135 S. Main St. in High Point Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20-21.

Rutherford directs facilities planning and design at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been responsible for more than a half-billion dollars worth of construction during nearly three decades at the university. In that span, he also has turned himself, many say, into the nation's foremost creator of miniature buildings.

Dollhouses are what most folks call them, and nothing draws families to the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill during the Christmas holiday period as well as his exhibits do, said Lee McFadden, museum public relations manager.

“Gordon's work surpasses any other I have ever seen, and he freely shares his knowledge and know-how with others in the hobby,” said Becky Norris, exhibit chairman of the miniatures show.

“An exceptionally delightful person, Gordon is a unique miniaturist -- one with a perfectionist's touch and a comedian's sense of humor,” said Ginger Mickey, show chairman and owner of the Gingerbread House of Miniatures in Greensboro. “His turn-of-the-century railway station is magnificent with its multiple platforms, inlaid floors, luggage, tiny Coke bottles, telegraph, cracker barrel, old-fashioned candy containers, posters, signs and tons of Victorian trim.”

The architect loosely modeled the station after the Wisconsin Central station in Fond du Lac, Wis. He modified the floor plan so that he would have room to build it in his workshop. It measures about six feet by four feet and stands almost three feet high.

“I tried to get as much Victorian gimcrackery as I could into the station since those little touches are what seem to delight people,” Rutherford said. “Seeing them delighted, especially children, is the reward I earn for what I do.”

He prefers Victorian-style buildings, he said, because “too much is not enough” when it comes to adding details to buildings and their contents. He once spent $90 on a working entry hall light fixture for one of his miniatures, which was more than he spent installing the real fixture in his own home.

Rutherford named the station after the grandfather of Cat Wingler of Wilkesboro, a famous doll maker who peoples the architect's creations with her own.

“Besides Gordon's remarkable station, exhibits will include an 18th century kitchen, a two-story Japanese home, many other miniature houses and landscapes,” Mickey said. “Dealers from North Carolina and across the country will display hand-crafted work of their own design -- porcelain character figures, exquisitely crafted furniture of every style imaginable, miniature foods, fruits and plants to boggle the mind. There also will be reproductions of classic porcelains, sterling silver and accessories of every description.”

Admission to the show, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon until 4:30 p.m. Sunday, is $4 for adults and $3 for children under age 10. Rewbotham Station also will be displayed at the Ackland on the UNC-CH campus during the Christmas holiday season.

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Note: Reporters are invited to attend a special preview Friday afternoon and evening (Sept. 19) at the High Point Radisson. For details, contact Ginger Mickey at (910) 273-2831. Before then, Rutherford, who will be at the show all three days, can be reached at (919) 966-1571 (w) or 872-5282 (h).

Contact: David Williamson