Decades ago, yet years after we moved into this house, we discovered an interesting local enterprise. Someone who owned property located in a semi-rural area was pouring concrete into moulds to produce classical statuary, garden urns, pedestals, stone benches, you name it. We went to visit the property. It was a country house, not very old, a ranch-style bungalow set on a large lot and behind the house was a vast yard where the product was displayed.

We were overwhelmed. We wandered about looking at the displays and knew we wanted to own some of those things. We were always interested in art and antiquities and what this man produced was a facsimile of both. Some were copies of ancient Greek and Roman statuary, some replicated objects, architectural details and statuary produced over the last thousand years in classical artworks. And we loved them all.

This was a family business we were fascinated by. The man who produced all these wonderful replicas was a garrulous fellow, friendly and knowledgeable about his product. His wife was the business-side of their entrepreneurial partnership; she priced what her husband produced. She would walk around the property with a file of products and prices, citing what it would cost you for any particular item, with full authority.

They were both robust, muscular people. If you bought something really heavy that required moving with a trailer, he would hoist the object single-handedly into the trailer, laughing off efforts to give him a hand. He made it a practice to regularly go back to Italy, the country of his birth, to acquire new moulds so he could produce new product. All of them left us amazed with admiration.

He produced for us a classical surround for our porch, the style and dimensions to order. It took him several weeks, and we returned to pick up all the pieces which my husband then installed. We bought some classical statuary from him, the Three Graces, the Discus Thrower, and a few others to stand in our garden. Along with as many classical urns as we could afford and find place for, on our limited property, over the years.

About twelve years ago his wife died. Their son, who was a great help to his parents in pouring the cement with the moulds -- they produced some hugely impressive pieces; classical fountains, great huge horses, statuary of mythical Greek gods -- eventually became interested in other things. The family business wound up. The property was sold to a builder as part of a new subdivision.

The family business that this family worked so hard to build, and provided people like us with such huge pleasure in owning garden pieces we would never otherwise be able to access is long gone. But we still treasure all those pieces we bought so many years ago. They have served us well.