For more than 50 years, Bob and Pat Nugent have led Tiffany Stained Glass, a Forest Park business known for its custom architectural art glass and commitment to traditional craftsmanship.
Founded in 1975, Tiffany Stained Glass designs and fabricates custom architectural art glass for residential and commercial spaces. The company specializes in products like stained glass windows, beveled glass, skylights, domed ceilings and decorative lighting, using traditional craftsmanship techniques to achieve a vintage look.
Bob and Pat Nugent, both from Oak Park, were inspired by the area’s architectural heritage. Bob Nugent was an architecture student at Oak Park High School, where an instructor supported his interest in drawing, which became an escape from other academics. He later worked at a stained glass production company, helping produce large quantities of lamps for major consumer brands.
“It was an interesting point in history, but because of that, the business we were in started to falter. At that point, Pat and I decided to take over the business and pivot toward work that reflected what we were more familiar with: architectural features like stained glass windows, beveled glass doors and Prairie School–style lighting fixtures,” Bob Nugent said.
He and Pat are the owners and founders, having taken over the company from an earlier partnership and guiding its growth into what it is now.
Pat was educated in the history and significance of influential artists, whose work continues to shape the direction of the business today.
“It’s a popular thing for us to study where the glassworking, the art of it is presently and how it’s moving forward. But we follow more of a historical prescription. That is, we follow the same techniques, the same materials, the same disciplines,” Bob Nugent said.
Architectural and decorative glass trends have remained largely consistent over the decades, with the most significant changes occurring in the adoption of modern technology to streamline production processes. Bob Nugent explained that Tiffany Stained Glass has adapted by incorporating these technological advancements to more efficiently create and restore pieces while preserving traditional craftsmanship.
“There are very few technological advances that become mainstream and are regularly used by us. So, we largely stick to the basics of historical techniques and disciplines to produce accurate reproductions and create pieces that maintain the integrity of the original work,” Bob Nugent said.
