My favorite... weathervane
A Santa Cruz, Calif., company specializes in high-end weathervanes, all custom designed and built by hand.
Carlye Adler, FSB contributor


(FSB Magazine) - When Stephen Mascilo and Trevor Pinker, owners of the Oxford Guesthouse, an inn in Provincetown, Mass., wanted the perfect finishing touch for their cottage home, they called West Coast Weather Vanes (www.westcoastweathervanes.com). Founded 17 years ago in Santa Cruz, Calif., by LizAnne and Ken Jensen, the company specializes in high-end weathervanes, all custom designed and built by hand.

The Jensens once created a moon-and-stars pattern for the Dollywood theme park. They made a gargoyle for The X-Files and spent four months designing 39 personalized soft-coated wheaten terriers for a breed-appreciation club. Most weathervanes are mass-produced overseas from molds, but the Jensens shape their copper, brass, or nickel-silver pieces using hammers made from rolled rawhide. A basic silhouette costs about $400, while elaborate shapes (such as the four-foot 1957 Mercedes SL300 one customer requested) range up to $15,000.

Mascilo and Pinker wanted a heraldic lion for the gabled roof of their cottage. They followed the tradition of putting pennies inside their weathervane from significant years in their lives, including the inn's opening 11 years earlier. The engraving: "Start with a dream and make it happen."

When Stephen Mascilo and Trevor Pinker, owners of the Oxford Guesthouse (www.oxfordguesthouse.com), an inn in Provincetown, Mass., wanted the perfect finishing touch for their cottage home, they called West Coast Weather Vanes. Founded 17 years ago in Santa Cruz, Calif., by LizAnne and Ken Jensen, the company specializes in high-end weathervanes, all custom designed and built by hand.

The Jensens once created a moon-and-stars pattern for the Dollywood theme park. They made a gargoyle for The X-Files and spent four months designing 39 personalized soft-coated wheaten terriers for a breed-appreciation club. Most weathervanes are mass-produced overseas from molds, but the Jensens shape their copper, brass, or nickel-silver pieces using hammers made from rolled rawhide. A basic silhouette costs about $400, while elaborate shapes (such as the four-foot 1957 Mercedes SL300 one customer requested) range up to $15,000.

Mascilo and Pinker wanted a heraldic lion for the gabled roof of their cottage. They followed the tradition of putting pennies inside their weathervane from significant years in their lives, including the inn's opening 11 years earlier. The engraving: "Start with a dream and make it happen." Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.