223 East 80th Street: A Permanent Home

"My father moved the business four times, and I've moved it twice," explains Larry Shar. "I can tell you I never want to do it again!" And he won't have to: Lowy recently purchased and thoroughly renovated the Upper East Side townhouse it has occupied for twelve years, giving the company a permanent home.

Each floor of the 15,000 square foot building has a different function: Walk through the door and you're in the showroom. Towards the back is the framing consultation area, with thousands of corner samples. Along with office space and the digital scanning studio, the second and third floors are lined with bins containing some of Lowy's 4,000 antique frames. The fourth floor houses the paper conservation, fitting room and production office; gilding and finishing take place on five. Thanks to a flood of light through large windows, the north side of the top floor is devoted to painting restoration. A photography studio occupies the south side. And what of carving and carpentry? Since wood dust isn't appreciated by gilders or painting conservators, they have their own space on East 75th Street.