Detroit Observatory Couch

The Upholstery Shop was contacted by Patricia Whitesell, project leader for the complete exterior and interior restoration of the Detroit Observatory. The observatory has a settee-style seating bench that provides seating for people using the telescope. It had been reupholstered several times since its manufacture in 1854, so the original design was lost. Through some background investigation, Patricia was able to find an original photo of what the bench looked like when it was new. We hand-tufted the bench in leather, using a diamond tufting motif, employing the old method of upholstering to capture its original look and design.