Sam’s workplace in his basement is spick and span and organized – every tool has its place. He works standing up to move about more easily.Sam Petralia, 84, has a hobby and he is good at it. He makes wooden models of houses, lighthouses and birdhouses. Some of his friends and neighbors have benefited from a gift of a model of their home, complete with front and back yard details.
“I just like to putter around, made some bird houses first and wondered if I could make a regular house and then, just did it. Some neighbors saw it and they wanted one also,” Sam said.
Sam and his wife, Shirley, have been married 43 years and live on Payne Beach Road in the Town of Parma. He worked at DuPont for 32 years in the paint department and retired in 1984. He began this hobby about two years ago, never having any woodworking training. “Over the winter I don’t want to just sit around so I started in making these models and eventually sold one. Most of the time I do it on request,” he added.
The Lighthouse Road home features a tennis court in the backyard and is included in Sam’s model.He works mostly in wood, using cedar, pine, oak and plastic for siding. His workshop is a model of cleanliness and organization, every tool has a place and every place has a tool. He uses few power tools and stands when he works so that he can move around better.
If someone wants a model he takes a picture of the roof and all four sides of the home and doesn’t use any standard scale, he just makes it the appropriate size, figuring it out in his head. It takes about a month to finish a house and he uses any kind of paint to match the house.
This lighthouse is one that Sam imagined. The lighthouse itself looks like Portland Head Light.
Sam holds a replica of a friend’s home on Lighthouse Road.On the model for Scott Pundt’s home on Lighthouse Road, Sam included a tennis court that Scott has in his back yard. He did his friend Rick Piendel’s home on Zellweger Beach Road and included the white picket fence. One model that was impressive included the pool in the backyard of his close by neighbor’s house. He has built about nine homes, seven lighthouses and some birdhouses. One large lighthouse and accompanying building was done strictly by imagining the combination; the lighthouse looks a bit like the Portland Head Light.
“I get a lot of pleasure doing it. If they offer me money, I’ll take it,” Sam said. His wife Shirleys says the projects “keep him busy doing something. He’s using his head, hands and mind and being creative.” All that and being a good neighbor besides.
An overview of models that Sam Petralia has constructed. Sam proudly exhibits models of homes and lighthouses that he has built. He has assembled nine homes, seven lighthouses and several birdhouses.
