Features
The 25 – Stephen Payne
For more than four decades, Stephen Payne and his colleagues at Boston-based Payne|Bouchier Fine Builders have been doing authentic Greek Revival and Beaux Arts restorations and renovations throughout New England, making what he calls “a small” contribution to maintaining the charm of these iconic historic districts.
“I would submit that the field of historic restoration and preservation has had more of an impact on me than I have had on it,” he says. “My contribution is mainly acknowledging and embracing the various architectural commissions that provide oversight in Boston’s historic neighborhoods.”
Payne, one of the founding partners of Payne|Bouchier, has had no formal training in the classical orders.
“As a form of continuing education, I always pay close attention to what the architects and builders did in the 19th century,” he says. “That attention and, of course, collaborations with classically trained architects are my entire curriculum.”
He got his start in the early 1970s in what he describes as a “hippie workshop” after eschewing academic pursuits in favor of woodworking during his truncated tenure at Hampshire College.
Through the years, as clients requested reproduction period moldings, balusters, and other millwork, Payne acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of the history and methodologies of woodworking.
Noting that there will be a “continuing, constant demand for authentic restoration work,” Payne says that it will be up to the next generation of craftspeople to carry tradition forward. “We need to ensure that young architects pursue classical design and young tradespeople learn their craft from old guys like me.”
