Speaking of starcases...

[dgbldr]

This is in the current issue of Hardwood Floors magazine:

http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/chapelFM13/default.aspx

Anyone from Santa Fe who's seen it in person?

Edit: oops, somebody re-spell the title for me please:)

[Stan Foster]

I have had for years seeing that Sisters of Loretta stairway on my bucket list.

Amazing stairway and story behind it.

Stan

[Keith Mathewson]

Last year at the SMA Reno show Jim Baldwin had me do a scale mockup of what he thought the construction method might have been for that staircase. Having worked on the model I think that he, most likely, was correct as to how it was built. From what I've read there is a good likelihood that the stair was built in France and shipped then assembled on site.

[Kent Brobeck]

Last year at the SMA Reno show Jim Baldwin had me do a scale mockup of what he thought the construction method might have been for that staircase. Having worked on the model I think that he, most likely, was correct as to how it was built. From what I've read there is a good likelihood that the stair was built in France and shipped then assembled on site.

Keith, do you have links to those sources? I'd like to read about that. That stair is amazing!

[Slaughter Construction Co]

Back in 1980-81, I designed and built a house in Santa Fe. I saw this stair soon after I got there. I took the opportunity to view it several times. It was always a wonder. They won't let you touch it much less walk up it.
Santa Fe is one of my favorite cities. I learned to really appreciate the architecture. It's almost like sculpture. The building materials and techniques are almost as unique as the architecture.

[Lavrans]

I do think a lot of the hyperbole around that staircase is amusing. For example, the writer of the article cited above exclaiming that they carpenter used "Pegs over nails!". As if glue and tenon and glue & wedges aren't inherently better than nails in the first place.

Figuring that it's a housed tread stair, there is plenty enough material and structural integrity to hold up to moderate use for quite a long time. Additionally, the stair is anchored at the top & bottom, which assists with the structure- it can't "unwind". Good hide glue will be very strong, add in tenons, glued and wedged treads and risers, no problem.

It is certainly impressive; it is a wonder of construction. It is not a wonder that defies the laws of physics. It would be a lot of fun to build one.

[Baldwin]

A plan for a self-supporting, spiral stair is found in THE CARPENTER & JOINER, STAIR BUILDER AND HANDRAILER by Robert Riddell, (1860)

This was a well-known an widely available text, which was reprinted several times throughout the 1870s'. Selective portions were later added to other books of the same author. (Steve from Advanced Stair Systems, loaned me an impossible-to-find, "like-new edition" to compare to my thoroughly worn-out copy.) During its' day, this book cost more than a weeks' salary but was widely considered "the bible" by any professional stairbuilder.

Riddells'construction plan was particularly well suited to "on-site" construction (in-situ) with limited or no machine tools and only a typical carpenters' tool box. I believe it would have been well-known and practiced by any professional stair builder of the era. The plan for the balustrade was also included in another portion of the same book. The work of building the balustrade was typically accomplished by another craftsman (a handrailer and not necessarily the stairbuilder (this was reportedly, how the work proceeded in Loretto).

The precise construction methods of the Loretto Chapel Stair is probably impossible to ascertain without removing some of the soffit lining but I believe (for several reasons) that Riddels' plan is a most likely scenario. I could go on and on...

I believe it's grossly unfair to the living craftsmen of the era, to assign the construction of this "miraculous stair" to some angelic visitation...("carpenters are clever folks and have always been so"). I also believe it's equally unfair to suggest that this stair was NOT in some way, an answer to the faithful prayers of a few (and no,.. descending from Utah Mormon pioneers, I'm not Catholic).

[Baldwin]

No miracle here but here's another stair completed in the later 1800s (1888)in a small, rural and isolated western community. (Manti, Utah, 125 miles South of Salt Lake City).

Another pioneer stair completed in Salt Lake City, 1893

It should be remembered that the later half of the 1800's is often referred as "the golden age of stair design" and..."Carpenters are indeed clever fellows".

[timraleigh]

I believe it's grossly unfair to the living craftsmen of the era, to assign the construction of this "miraculous stair" to some angelic visitation...("carpenters are clever folks and have always been so"). I also believe it's equally unfair to suggest that this stair was NOT in some way, an answer to the faithful prayers of a few (and no,.. descending from Utah Mormon pioneers, I'm not Catholic).

Well put. Thanks for your post, very informative.
Tim