Our partners across the pond at Stiltz USA showed with a recent installation that there really are no limits to what you can achieve with a Stiltz Lift after one of their customers turned the Vista into a British red telephone box!
Mr and Mrs Lydic, from Somerset in Pennsylvania, wanted to buy a home lift for practical purposes as it suited their lifestyle due to the regular trips to the upstairs – and, thinking ahead, thought it would be good to get one installed now in readiness for use in later life.
A domestic lift would also be very helpful for their older friends who often required assistance getting up the Lydic’s stairs and carry luggage and other items.
But the couple wanted to make the lift as fun as possible and make it a statement when visitors came to their home – so as a lover of many things British – they decided that changing the lift so it looked like an iconic British telephone box would look brilliant!
With hydraulic elevators proving expensive and too many structural changes to their home needed to install a home lift, the Stiltz Lift, which is a totally unique non-hydraulic lift, was just perfect for the Lydic’s as it could be fitted almost anywhere in their home.
Powered by an electric motor system that sits on top of the lift, the home lift requires no load bearing walls as it travels via dual rails in the floor. With the benefit of a clear car body made from structural polycarbonate sheet, that is only included with the Vista model, the couple then set about turning it into a phone box.
From the internet, they purchased construction plans for the iconic K2 British pillar box red telephone box which the Lydic’s had made out of wood, minus the door, to go around the outside of the Stiltz Lift. They also added a wireless phone-jack for the cab telephone and covered the space between floors with white sheet metal to cover the exposed rafters.
Mr Lydic said: “Hydraulic elevators are hard to retro-fit to an existing house. But for a Stiltz Elevator all that was needed was a hole in the floor (1040mm wide and 740mm depth) between the first and second floors and it didn’t have the disadvantages of the hydraulics.
“It also made creative enhancement of the cab more possible for us to turn it into a British red telephone box which adds a presentational uniqueness to our elevator. It really has exceeded our expectations, the installation went very well and we’re extremely satisfied.”
So the question is – what will you turn your Stiltz Lift into?!