Bill Ashley owns Bill Ashley’s Maintenance, which concentrates on historic renovation and restoration projects.
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DOes He DO?
Currently, Ashley is restoring the vintage doors of the Elks Building. “The doors are from the 1930s, so they aren’t the originals, but they’re made of red oak. The owner was very concerned with keeping the aesthetics of the building. It would be easy to buy new ones, but he wants to keep the look.” He is also restoring bits of molding that have fallen off. “We’re trying to maintain relics.”
OTHER RESTORATION PROJECTS
Ashley has worked on lighthouse restorations at Cape Charles and Cape Henry in Maryland. In 1986 and 1987, when San Jose Country Club was undergoing restorations, Ashley replicated a 1927-style seven-tier crown molding. “I had to make it all by hand from rough stock to match the old and to make it resemble historic parts of the building.” He also replicated a 1927 oak mantle for the country club. Ashley has also worked on homes in Avondale and Riverside. “People call because they know I can replicate what they have using new materials.”
ST. ANDREWS CHURCH AND THE JAMES E. MERRILL RESIDENCE
In 1998, Ashley was the superintendent and craftsman on St. Andrew’s Church restoration project. “[The] Haskell [Company] was donating men and materials, and I was fortunate enough to get to work on it.” Ashley built a communion rail for St. Andrews, and after finding a message in a bottle from the original builder, he left one for whoever may work on the church next. “No one knows where it is except for me.” At the Merrill House, which was moved next to the church, Ashley is using vintage wood to recreate the spindles and banisters.
WHERE IS HE FROM?
Portsmouth, Va. “It’s all history around there. As a kid we would take weekend trips to Yorktown and Jamestown. I remember going camping at Gettysburg.” His great-grandfather died in the battle at Gettysburg. Ashley enlisted in the military when he was 17, and after serving time in Vietnam, was stationed at Mayport. “I just stayed after that,” he said. “What I like about Jacksonville is that there is always work to be done here, but it’s not as fast-paced as boom towns like Atlanta or Orlando. It’s a community here. I’ve been all over the world and I think there is a big sense of community in Jacksonville. There’s not another town like it.”
TRAINING
Ashley joined a local carpenters and joiners union to learn basic carpentry skills. “You enhance skills while you’re working and gather knowledge with time. I seek work like this out whenever I can.” One of Ashley’s first jobs was an apprenticeship at the old American Heritage Life building, which is being converted into 11 E. Forsyth.
BACKGROUND
Ashley and a friend did custom home building and he worked with Arvida, helping build Sawgrass in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1983, he went to work for The Haskell Company as a trouble shooter. “It really helps me now. I would go to a building to fix whatever needed to be fixed, whether it was pouring 40 pounds of concrete for a wall slab or patching walls.”
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE YOU BEEN
INVOLVED IN?
Ashley served on the Downtown Revitalization Task Force formed by City Council member Matt Carlucci in 2000. “We were coming up with alternative plans to save 43 historic buildings in Jacksonville. We want it to be economically feasible for people to use buildings without questioning the integrity of the buildings and to maintain safety and fire codes. We want to bring people back to downtown and to have buildings with commercial on the bottom floors and to have office and residential upstairs. We also want to make it affordable for young people who work downtown to live here so that they can breathe new life into downtown.”
TRYING NEW THINGS
In 1980, Ashley took a five-year sabbatical from carpentry work. “I went to culinary school and became a certified working chef.” Ashley worked as the executive chef at Las Tapas.
LEAVING A MARK
In the old days, carpenters often left their signature in patterns of gingerbread trim or a rosette pattern on a mantle. Ashley’s rosette is a dogwood flower, which he leaves on projects that don’t require historical accuracy.
PERSONAL
Ashley, who lives at the beach, likes to surf and fish. “In the 1960s and 1970s, I was a ranked amateur in East Coast surfing. When dining out, Ashley prefers spending a long time over dinner at Cafe Sonoma in Jacksonville Beach. “Here we go to the restaurants on our way to something else. I like to spend two and a half to three hours someplace, talking and sampling wine.” He has two daughters; one lives in New York City, the other in Denver.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
When work begins on the trio of historical buildings at Forsyth and Laura streets, Ashley will be there. And when he has more free time, he’ll put his skills to use for HabiJax. “Delores Weaver has it figured out for me. She’ll have me working on the Wednesday team of retired carpenters. And I would love to be able to build houses for people.”
— by Bailey White