Local metal artist forges a huge new niche in barn hardware
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Six years ago, Stefan Bonitz was building a barn on his 35-acre property outside of Black Mountain when he encountered a problem: His Percheron had an itchy rear end.
“He really loves to scratch his butt on stall gates,” Bonitz says of the brawny draft horse. But at 2,000 pounds, the steed threatened to break any normal paddock latch Bonitz installed. The sheer mass of the freshly-milled barn wood would also show strain under ordinary hinges, causing the structure to sag as time went on.
“There just wasn’t anything available in local hardware stores that would support that kind of weight,” Bonitz bemoans.
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Luckily, he’s well-versed in the vernacular of steel. Since the mid 1990s, the artist — who’s lived in the Asheville area since age five — has majored in found-object assemblages, producing whimsical metal reincarnations using junkyard materials. Working under the moniker “Steebo,” he’s best known for garden art and for public installations like “Ballerina Angelina,” a 13-foot-tall humanoid practicing her arabesque in downtown Brevard.
Long story short, when Bonitz couldn’t find the hefty barn hardware he needed, he had the skills to develop his own. But for folks without a smithy, there are few options. They can either settle for subpar products from a big-box retailer or commission a custom project, the latter being time-consuming and costly.
After Bonitz explained this quandary to Mark Warren, his brother-in-law and a certified welding inspector with nearly 50 years of experience, Draft Barn Hardware was born.
“With our combined expertise, I knew we could fill a niche and provide something of value,” says Bonitz, who officially founded the company with Mark two years ago. Bonitz’s sister, Brigitte Warren, is also involved in the business.
Together, the trio works out of a 1,200-square-foot shop in Hendersonville where they handcraft a line of hinges, latches, and barn accessories like tool hangers and trash receptors.
Every product is designed to be aesthetically pleasing, with ornamental touches indicative of a classic, timber frame barn. But the true emphasis is on longevity. “What we’re building is made to last for generations,” says Mark. “It’s never going to break.”
Case in point: The team’s burliest hinge is a hefty 18 pounds and the length of a grown man’s thigh. Meanwhile, the “max” latch weighs more than 24 pounds and is built on half-inch plate steel.
Thanks to their gargantuan scale, these products attract a crowd at antique shows and pop-up markets. According to Brigitte, passersby often stop to assess the hardware’s beefiness for themselves. Many can’t help cracking jokes, asking things like, “Is this for Paul Bunyan’s ox?” or “Are you building for Jurassic Park?”
Bonitz admits his designs are “jaw-dropping.” Even the finishing — a two-part automotive coat — goes beyond industry standards. But his goal from the very beginning has been to “innovate through quality.”
“Our products are made with their intended purpose in mind,” Bonitz says, bringing the conversation back to his Percheron. “My horse, for instance, is always pushing on the stall door, and anything less than our hardware surely couldn’t withstand that force.”
Draft Barn Hardware, Hendersonville. The company’s products are sold at SS Farm and Saddlery (2060 Lynn Road, Suite 7, Columbus, 828-440-1510) and online at draftbarnhardware.com. For more information, call 828-266-0404. Tryon Resort Christmas Market at the Tryon International Equestrian Center (25 International Blvd., Mill Spring) from Friday, Nov. 25 at 11am to Sunday, Nov. 27 at 5pm. Free.