Being part of history has been in Phillip Watkins Jr.’s family genes for years starting when his great-grandfather came to the United States.
“Sometime between 1868 and 1874,” said Watkins, owner of Watkins Stained Glass Studio.
His father, grandfather and even great-grandfather have been handcrafting stained glass windows since the 1860s.
“In Denver, it's four generations back,” said his wife and business manager Jane Watkins.
They have been handcrafting windows for churches, homes and business in the area and now he’s trying to preserve a skill that is passing with time.
“There were probably one or two guys that were making all this stuff,” said Watkins, “and when they died…well then it was done.”
Watkins is using true preservation techniques to carry on a legacy.
“They really cared and it didn’t make any difference if the house cost 10,000 or a million dollars, they really cared about what they did back then,” said Watkins.
That’s part of the reason why they were chosen to be part of a 4-year restoration project going on in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
“This piece of glass here is the bottom of two windows that are on the landing of the Molly Brown house,” said Watkins.
Their studio is in the process of restoring glass from the historic Colorado landmark…a task that has been in his family for generations.
“We were honored to work on the windows because we were always told the windows were made by the Watkins family,” said his wife Jane.
“The reason I think that my grandfather made this window was the soldering is about flawless,” said Watkins, “he’s almost as good as me.”
He wants to help save an art form that some say is dying by preserving his family legacy.
“It’s just great to hear that it’s in good hands but it was originally built by amazing hands as well,” said Molly Brown House Museum director Andrea Malcomb. “It was important for people to see preservation in action to see what it takes to care for a home of this stature of this size and of this age.
A legacy that happens to be part of Colorado history.
“Take a window that’s right on the cusp of having major things happen to it and making it so it will be good for another 100 years,” said Watkins.
