Douglas Whitesell is a clockmaker extraordinaire whose Middleburg address is well known to clock owners far and wide. His clients include families who treasure their timepieces, museums, National Trust properties and the White House.

For years he has worked exclusively from his Middleburg shop, and for two days a week, he will continue to do so. But now that his children are older he wants to enjoy as much time with them as possible so he's decided to create a second workshop in his own historic venue.

"I've been refurbishing a summer kitchen at our 200-year-old stone farmhouse near Winchester," he explained. "It will be a wonderful workshop, and a few days each week I'll thoroughly enjoy being close to home."

The 1783 stone farmhouse is located in an idyllic setting in the middle of an apple orchard where his wife Katherine's family has grown apples for generations. Katherine is a pianist, who also directs a Winchester choir.

"When our two children, Emily and Robert, were little, it was sometimes difficult to work on clocks when they were in my shop. They were so curious and I always heard myself saying, 'Careful, please don't touch!'" he said. "Working exclusively at the shop was fairer to them and to me."

Now, however, his children are teenagers and working with them nearby a few days each week will be a pleasure and a luxury.

Customers need not be at all concerned. On the days when Doug is working in his Summer Kitchen workshop his telephone number will ring at both places. No matter where he's working, he will continue to be available to keep the many clocks that depend on him for care running well and in perfect condition.

Today, Doug restores, repairs and often makes new parts for the many clocks under his care.

Doug's career as clockmaker began with an apprenticeship under his father, Douglas Whitesell, Sr.

"My father and uncle were both great engineers. My uncle William designed equipment for the military, gear trains and mechanisms. My father went to Virginia Tech and studied aeronautical engineering until he left to attend pilot school; he flew B-24's in the Pacific."

"When the war ended, he and my uncle bought Army surplus motorcycles and repaired and repainted them to sell to the public. Personal transportation was at a premium, and it was a good income."

Douglas was born in Pulaski, Virginia. His mother was from Lebanon, in the heart of Appalachia on the Kentucky border.

"I love the country in Appalachia," Doug said. "The hills are so beautiful and I'm related to almost everyone there."

As he softly started to tell the story of how he became a clockmaker, Doug leaned forward and his clear, aqua eyes began to sparkle.

"We moved to Loudoun County in 1964 when my father took a job with the Federal Aviation Authority, then located at National Airport. The FAA was headquartered in a hanger at National," Doug explained. "It was suffocating in the summer and freezing every winter. When the new headquarters were completed in Leesburg, he was happy to move."

In the evenings and on weekends, Douglas, Sr., worked on the clocks he had collected over the years. He had to repair them to keep them in good working order and, in not too long, he was repairing clocks for others.

For the FAA engineer, the exacting restoration and repair work that takes such infinite care and patience helped him wind down from the tension and demands of his daily responsibilities.

"He loved to work on clocks," Doug remembered, "…and the word quickly spread in our neighborhood and beyond that he was a clockmaker of the highest order."

Doug's mother, Mary, taught fourth and fifth graders at Lincoln Elementary in Lincoln, Virginia.

"I often see her former students and they tell me she was their very favorite teacher," he said smiling.

Doug attended Brevard College near Asheville, N.C. where he enjoyed the artistic atmosphere of the small, beautiful campus in the North Carolina mountains. "I wouldn't have done well at a large college," Whitesell noted. "It was the perfect place for me."

He took apart his first clock, a very simple timepiece, when he was about 21. "My apprentice program ended when my Dad stopped taking half of the money I made," Doug says, smiling. "Because it had begun as a hobby for my father, charges were moderate, maybe $40 for a repair. Today that same repair on a grandfather clock is $1,200 or more."

By the time Doug's brother finished college, his father was confident that Doug had attained clockmaker status and his father no longer needed the extra income for tuition bills.

In 1975, Doug's father also gave him all his books on horological history, restoration and repair. In Doug's Middleburg shop, there are books and catalogues everywhere with titles like, 'Antiquarian Horology and the Proceedings of the Antiquarian Horological Society,' and there are clock repair tools and tool-boxes in ample evidence.

Before Doug settled on clockmaking as a career he pursued other professional paths. "About the time I finished apprenticing with my father, about the mid-'70's, I took a job as a porter on the Auto Train. It was the perfect job. I was in my early twenties and after I made a round-trip to Florida I had four days off before returning to work."

So, he bought a farm in West Virginia and built a new cabin on the property where he also kept 1,200 hives of honey-bees. "My Dad and I were fascinated with bees," he remembered. "We had all kinds of books about bees, and we studied them all the time. But we never kept bees at all, so having my own hives was a great experience."

Beekeeping, however, was not for him. "It's hard work. You have to move them late at night when they're at home. You put a little screen on their entrance and move them to their next pollinating destination. The work hours are not excellent, and having to wear so many layers of clothing in the heat of summer is no pleasure."

"But the bees themselves are a real pleasure," he emphasized.

Doug continued to work on clocks in the cold weather and he returned to Loudoun County in the mid-'80's. His first Middleburg shop was where Scruffy's Ice Cream Parlor is now located and then he moved to the former firehouse on Madison Street where the Nobel Nielson shoe shop is now located. Eventually, Doug purchased that building and worked happily and successfully there until his private client list lengthened so much that maintaining shop hours became impossible. He then moved his shop to a small, independent gray building just behind The Back Street Café, where he will continue to work several days a week.

"When I opened my first Middleburg shop in 1984, fine clocks were rare, but I quickly realized that this was a wonderful area for important clocks. They needed attention, and, as people realized I was here, they began to trust me with their clocks."

Doug Whitesell's very favorite clock is a French gilt, bronze and marble timepiece that features Billy goats carrying the clockworks on a sedan chair. "It has wonderful frette work around the base and a small pipe organ and bellows that plays many different songs. The works are amazing, so complicated but such a pleasure."

Today, Doug sees two clocks a week. If he's asked to do a complete overhaul, he guarantees his work for five years. He spends much of his time paying house calls on his many clients clocks that reside in famous places and cannot come to him for repair and restoration.

"I really like to work on 18th and 19th century clocks," he emphasizes. "Fine clocks are so rare now, I used to visit France and England regularly to purchase clocks for clients, but the exchange rate prohibits that now. The clockmakers trade is well understood and highly respected in Europe, and it was immensely rewarding to meet my colleagues there to learn about the latest developments."

It is obvious that working from home a few days a week is something Doug Whitesell truly relishes. He is delighted he'll have more time to spend with his family, and he is renovating the summer kitchen to become a dream workshop.

"A clock needs to run to be in good order," says Whitesell. "When dust oxidizes in the gears, it pits the surface. Then nothing works smoothly. They need to be cleaned every five-to-seven-years to address the grit and wear. If they are well cared for, good clocks will run forever."

In addition to restoration and repair, many customers rely on Doug for appraisals and advice on purchases. "My clients understand how much I love the clocks I care for, and they know they can trust my word and my work."

Whether his workshop is in Middleburg proper, or in the middle of an apple orchard, Douglas Whitesell, Jr., is carrying on a fine tradition in the best possible way.

To reach Doug, please telephone: 540 687 5550.