Historic Benicia Arsenal Businesses: Bradbury and Bradbury Art Wallpapers

Patch periodically interviews businesses in the Historic Benicia Arsenal. Patch interviewed president and artistic director, Steve Bauer, of . The company prints historic wallpapers for a worldwide clientele.
 
As a young draftsman with a love for historical architecture, Bauer came to work at the company just after high-school graduation in 1982. He lived in a small room on-site that now serves as a Bradbury and Bradbury office. 

Steve, before we get into your unique story about coming to work with Bradbury and Bradbury, tell me some background on the business.
The company has been in the Arsenal for thirty-one years.  I believe we may be one of its oldest tenants. We print an extensive selection of wallpaper styles from the 1880s through 1960s.   

The company was founded by Bruce Bradbury in 1979. He overcame so many obstacles getting started --that is a real story. The illustrated history on the blog tells about his efforts. Initially, the company produced a line of papers designed for Victorian historic homes.  My wife Lisa and I purchased the company from him in 2005.

We have, for 25 years, offered a service that assists a person with the design of a historic room. Our designer, Heather Cole, will match papers with a client’s needs and interests. If the customer needs help with other portions of the room, she helps with that as well.

You have expanded the wallpaper line to include papers right up to the atomic patterns and mod graphics of the 50’s and 60’s. These are popular “retro” patterns many of us may remember.
Although it’s hard to believe, homes from the 1950’s are now on the historic register. We decided to provide a full array of papers for clients with older homes.  Beyond Victorian and Arts& Crafts papers, our line includes 20’& 30’s Art Deco, 40’s Post-War Era, 50’s Atomic Age, and 60’s Mod Generation.  

You came to Bradbury and Bradbury right out of high school. That’s unusual. How did that happen?
I was always interested in historic architecture. As a ten-year old, I was on my first trip to San Francisco with my parents. I remember just going nuts in the car. It was the first time I ever saw Victorian houses like those. I was jumping from one side of the station wagon to the other saying, “Look at that one, look at that one! I want to build houses like this!” And my dad said, “Well, Steve, I’ve got bad news for you. They haven’t built one of these in a hundred years.” It didn’t matter, I was excited.

When I was just out of high school, a couple I had corresponded with in New York about architectural design forwarded my name to Bruce. He sent me a plane ticket. He looked at my (drawing) portfolio, and hired me. There were just three of us here, in 1982, and four tables. I ended up living in that room next door that’s now an office. It was my first apartment.

Can the public still tour Bradbury and Bradbury to watch papers being printed?
We have offered tours to the public, but it is difficult. There really is no adequate elevator. We do tours during Open Studios artists’ events. If someone calls for an appointment, we will do a tour.

What are the benefits of your Industrial Park location?
The nostalgia and history of this building is important to us. It’s on the historic register. As a company interested in restoration, we only wish that it could be better maintained.

Is there anything else you would like to tell your Benicia neighbors?
We would like them to know we’re here. We have had people come in and say, “I’ve lived in Benicia for years and never known that you were here. “ We aren’t a retail location, but we are well known all over the world in historic circles. We are probably better known in New York than we are in Benicia.

(Smiling) Maybe some day Benicia will put us on their billboard so people will know we’re here. That would be awesome. This (area) could be a wonderful destination.  I know the City has worked through a plan to make Benicia a destination. There is not only our company down here, there are many other artists and businesses.  With vision, this area could be competing with First Street as a destination.