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and lights. When Marynick acquired Iron Age in 2021, the team was already at work on Harlan Crow's restoration of the 1913 Old Parkland campus, now the headquarters of Crow Holdings; more commissions followed. "I think it's what helped us buy this building," he says. Across the floor, a small crew mixes composition ornament, a simple but ancient material made from chalk, animal glue, and natural resins. Once warmed, it's pressed into wood molds. "No one else has our recipe," Marynick says of the special formula refined by Decorators Supply for more than a century. Architects and designers often prefer composition because it bonds cleanly to woodwork, takes stain like wood, and reads as wood — right down to the grain captured in the original molds. According to Marynick, it's ideal for big projects because it's faster than computer-driven carving, yields crisper detail, and repeats perfectly. Like Casci, Decorators Supply also works in plaster, but their roles differ. Casci is the custom studio that designs, fabricates, and installs one-off architectural work; Decorators Supply is the catalog manufacturer producing specific historic patterns and runs. For now, Casci will continue to design and create custom plaster at its original shop near Fair Park, run by noted artist and creative director Paul Labadie, who sculpts, draws, and approves every design before it's made. "He's an incredible resource and a big part of our legacy," Marynick says. Business is booming. Now 41, Marynick is juggling a full roster of projects: the decorative plasterwork for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas, for the fifth consecutive year; designs for Mister Charles; a historic commission in New Orleans; and a large residence on Turtle Creek Boulevard. He also collaborated with New York–based architect Peter Pennoyer on a project featured in Veranda and recently finished a River Oaks residence in Houston with Curtis & Windham and Suzanne Kasler. Ongoing hotel restorations include The Driskill in Austin and the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells. Last year, Decorators Supply contributed designs for the streaming series Palm Royale and The Gilded Age, adding to the long slate of Hollywood movies and stage sets it has worked on since its inception. Marynick is optimistic. Centralizing the operation makes the businesses easier to manage and grow, and the building leaves room to add a few more specialty ateliers and product lines when the time is right. "I'm excited to see how everything works together," he says. "We have accomplished a lot, but we still have a lot to do." Clockwise from top: Mark Marynick with some of Decorators Supply's 30,000 historic wood molds. Casci's intricate decorative plaster. The factory's original fire doors were restored to working order. Materials and tools used to make plaster. 132