Cheltenham Artisan Restores Horn & Hardart Stained-Glass Window on Display in Chestnut Hill

Chandler Coleman, who owns Cathedral Stained Glass Studio in Cheltenham, helped restore a Horn & Hardart stained-glass window by D’Ascenzo Studio. The piece is now being offered for $1.2 million at Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts in New York City, writes Kevin Riordan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bernard Goldberg commissioned Coleman along with Ian Pappajohn, co-owner of a woodworking business in Philadelphia, to restore one of several windows that originally framed the Chestnut Street entrance of Horn & Hardart’s Center City headquarters.

“It was in terrible shape, and now it’s amazing, a treasure,” said Goldberg. “Chandler’s work is done with love and taste and elegance. He’s a master.”

The window is similar to the one salvaged from the 1965 demolition of the Horn & Hardart headquarters that is currently part of the collection of Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill.

“Horn & Hardart really were all about quality and creating a wonderful experience for their clientele,” said Lisa Hurwitz. She is the director of the 2021 documentary film The Automat (starring Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner).

Her appreciation of the impressive art installation at an everyday eatery was one of her inspirations for the project. Her cinematic love letter to the long-gone chain has been named Best Documentary by film festivals nationwide.

“The headquarters and the windows really epitomize the company at its finest. Imagine a restaurant chain doing this today,” she said.

Read more about Horn & Hardart and its windows in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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The Automat, the 2021 documentary from director Lisa Hurwitz, is available for streaming on HBO Max, Apple TV, and Hulu;
a briefer look at the restaurant chain’s history and impact is in this YouTube video.