165 YEARS AGO, Pierre Emmanuel Guerin started an artisan foundry in downtown New York City, determined to bring a fine level of metalworking to the United States previously only associated with his native France. He quickly grew his line to meet the demands of the leading furniture manufacturers of the day such as Herter Brothers, Pottier & Stymus, Marcotte and many more. His personal passion was inventing new kinds of oil lamps, many of which he patented and live on in museums and are pursued by collectors. He shared his love of metalworking by training a thriving workforce in his quickly growing foundry. Pierre tirelessly grew his architectural hardware line and produced several massive catalogs when commercial photography became more readily available in the late 1800s to cater to the country’s leading designers and architects.

As the business grew we moved several times in the city before settling at Jane Street in 1892, where we’ve been manufacturing ever since. P.E. Guerin has created hardware for great estates and fine homes across the country, from New York to Michigan to California. Under the leadership of Pierre’s son, second generation owner Emmanuel Pierre Guerin, we produced hardware for over 400 doors and windows for Henry Ford’s Fair Lane mansion in Dearborn, Michigan - and today we are proud to be producing the few pieces that have gone missing in the century since in the very same foundry, using the same patterns and techniques. The company passed on to E.P. Guerin’s nephew, Arthur C. Ward, in the 1940s. Arthur introduced P.E. Guerin’s stock line - made in Spain, kept in stock in plain brass, and finished by hand in our Jane Street factory to client’s desired finish. This introduction made a selection of our work more accessible and quickly available to a broad market, while Arthur continued his family’s love for the heritage made-to-order line which is still made start to finish in house.

Arthur's son, Andrew F. Ward, is the current 4th-generation President and C.E.O. of P.E. Guerin, and shares his family’s passion for design by introducing modern pieces such as our geometric Beehive collection. Our company continues to thrive producing stock, made-to-order, and custom work for projects of all sizes around the world.

We carry on Pierre Emmanuel Guerin's legacy today, through a lineage of artistry passed down through generations of craftspeople. It can be hard to understand the scale of time and scope of our product line - many people ask if we create reproductions, but at what point in producing the same piece over the decades does it become a reproduction? We are proud to make everything we’ve ever made, and to continue to move forward ever innovating in our field. We’d like to show you how we cherish our heritage, and use time-honored techniques for the work to which it is best suited, while incorporating modern techniques such as 3D printing and CNC machining where it’ll best serve the work we are producing. Please join us on this journey and see some of the faces and hands that keep this work alive.