Our History
Victorian Glassworks was started in 1976 by two schoolteachers returning from temporary overseas assignments in Australia where they learned stained glass technique. They came to Washington and opened a glass studio in the Antique Underground in Landover, MD. Soon after, they moved to the Antique Village area in Kensington, MD. The work consisted of custom designed stained glass windows for commercial and residential applications.
In 1981, David Stone first met Kurt Pritchard, the remaining original partner, who assisted in making an etched glass mirror. A friendship began and evolved into a job offer, making David the first employee of Victorian Glassworks. In 1985, Kurt left to start an antique furniture business. David managed the glass operation and subsequently started to expand the business. Within two years, the staff grew to six employees and David had bought Kurt out. The business was incorporated and the name was changed to Kensington Glass Arts Inc. (KGa). The work grew to include etched and carved glass as well as stained glass. By 1990, the staff had grown to fifteen.
With the residential recession of the early 1990’s the business plan was modified to pursue more commercial work, specifically interior tenant work. Simply stated, this is the glass portion of construction for new tenants moving into office space. Glass doors, partition walls, glass wall surfaces and furniture are the most common products that they furnish and install. The company’s artistic background has served it well since many of these projects also require specialty product. Today, Kensington Glass Arts only works on commercial projects and has won numerous craftsmanship awards for the consistently high quality of their work. By 2002, the company had grown to 26 employees.
To further support our commercial clients; in 2003 the new Fabrication Division was formed in Ijamsville, MD. This factory fabricates most of the glass that is installed by KGa as well as provides glass products to other customers. Not only is it one of the largest fabrication facilities in the Mid-Atlantic area, it also has the only full size glass tempering oven in the state of Maryland. The capacity to manufacture and install all types of specialty and architectural glass products has truly moved Kensington Glass Arts into a class of its own. Currently the company employs over 70 employees and has worked on thousands of projects.
