Philco Radio House Penthouse

This is the penthouse that I came up with for the Philco Radio house!

After I sketched up some concepts, I cut some plywood walls for the penthouse.

I did a little research and wanted to include some architectural elements from the 1930's, round porthole windows, corner windows, glass block, a flat roof, rounded corners, stucco exterior,  and accent bands.  The roof deck will also have ship railings which was also indicative of that era.

I saw the glass tile and decided it would be great for the patio on the roof deck.  I used cardboard squares to located glass block while I waited for it to arrive.

I was excited to to find a hole cutter the exact size that I needed for the porthole windows.

I found some glass block online at miniatures.com

After marking the placement of the glass block, I drilled a hole in each of the locations so that I could use my scroll saw to cut out each hole.

Using the scroll saw, you have to take the blade off between each cut and insert it in the drilled holes.  This took a while.

This was the dry fit of the glass block

This is my proposed placement of the of the Arcade Cast Iron furniture

This was the installation of the glass tile on the roof deck patio

I cut the tile to match the shape of the radio of the top.

I taped the tile off so that I could grout it.

This is the decorative roof element under construction.  I used an iron on veneer on the edge of the plywood to give it a smooth surface.

Here is a picture of the tile once the grout was dry

I am planning on putting this Arcade table and chairs on the deck

I found the perfect door online for the project

I pre-painted the wood trim that I used for the accent stripes.

I decided to paint the windows on the rest of the house a dark metallic bronze color, similar to the radio controls.

I glued the accent stripes on then cut out the holes for the windows.

I made a design change and glued the roof on top and covered it with the iron on veneer tape.  I was initially going to set it lower than the walls.  The balcony roof will rest against the edge of the veneer strip. 

Now with the addition of the penthouse, I can fit all of my furniture collection in the house.  Be sure to see my previous post on the Philco Radio House or click the label.

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