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by Bill Waite
Artisan and craftsman, Robert Whitley recently turned 94, and he still enjoys refinishing, repairing and making furniture. My wife Vicky, my teenage son Bobby and I decide to visit him. Arriving at Robert’s Solebury studio, he greets us with a smile and leads us inside. Immediately we are confronted by his work. Pure genius. Seeing his paintings, we are surprised to find out that Robert Whitley is a painter as well as a master craftsman known worldwide for his fine work.
It has been a long time since we visited our friend Robert Whitley. Vicky has stayed in touch with him over the years. I remember that in 1993 we featured him in our magazine. Then we knew he had these amazing commissions, such as a chess set presented by Richard Nixon to the Soviet Union that is now in the collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Perhaps his most well-known piece is his reproduction of President John F. Kennedy’s Oval Office desk for the Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. He spent three and a half days in the oval office making drawings, sketches and taking precise measurements under the strict supervision of the secret service.
Robert is a fascinating guy. He tells us about growing up in Trenton, NJ and that he has been designing and making furniture since 1948. He learned his skills from his father who was an antique collector and himself a skilled craftsman. Robert grew up with a childhood passion for history and art. In the ’60s he opened the Lambertville Flea Market which later he sold and then moved to Solebury, Pennsylvania, where he built his workshop and home.
Robert gives us a tour of his home, studio and grounds where he lives and works. As we walk around his property, he tells us about the time he met Donald Trump in New York while exhibiting his furniture in a show. He also tells us about his meetings with Ronald Regan, Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister to President John F. Kennedy. He reminisces about the late ’50s and ’60s when stars appearing at the Bucks County Playhouse would come to the Logan Inn to eat, drink and practice their lines for an upcoming play. He even has a painting he did of Walter Matthau. Robert Whitley restored important pieces for the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where he served as master conservator. Besides restoration, his handmade contemporary furniture designs have provided him with many national awards, and his work is in the collections of such prestigious institutions as the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Whitley’s Throne Bench is in the James A. Michener Art Museum.
Many of his restorations of antique furniture inspired his reproduction work, which is why we called our 1993 feature in Bucks County Town & Country Living, Crafting Tomorrow’s Antiques. Examples of his work include a reproduction of a period secretary desk made in highly figured American black walnut with three side chairs for George Washington’s Office in Valley Forge. He recreated an exquisite transition piece from Queen Anne to Chippendale in highly figured American Cherry, perfectly proportioned and sized. He also recreated Aaron Burr’s secretary desk and did reproductions for the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, NJ.
We enjoy the rest of our time sitting outside in his tea room looking at beautiful views of the countryside. We all were inspired and our son who loves the arts and crafts learned so much about the history of the arts in Bucks County. Bill Waite is the publisher of Bucks County Magazine.