Frank House of Woodbury aims one of his famed long rifles outside his Butler County workshop. House recently built a rifle and trained actor Mel Gibson how to use it in his upcoming role in the film The Patriot. (Photo by Joe Imel)

WOODBURY He’s far removed from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and he probably is the last person one would expect to see next to Mel Gibson on the silver screen. But thats where Frank House of Woodbury has ended up. While drinking coffee at his home one day in May, House got a phone call from Sony Studios, which was interested in buying some handmade items from Frank House and his wife, Lally House, and enlisting him as an instructor. Frank House makes flintlock long rifles straight out of the past, while Lally House does porcupine quill work that stems from the 18th century. The Houses were asked to make items for the upcoming Columbia Pictures film The Patriot, which tells the story of a pacifist who becomes a reluctant but fierce warrior during the American Revolution. Starring Gibson, the film is said to have potential as a Fourth of July weekend blockbuster. Houses Hollywood connection dates to the early 1990s, when Randy Wilkens bought a flintlock rifle and powder horn strap from Frank House at a National Muzzle-Loading Rifle Association show in Friendship, Ind. Wilkens, who works for Sonys art department in Los Angeles, later showed the items to Doug Harlocker, property master for The Patriot. Harlocker then contacted Frank House about making the guns for the picture. Frank told Doug that he wasnt interested in making the guns if he couldnt make them right, Wilkens said, explaining the gunmakers belief that flintlock rifles in movies usually are made incorrectly. He actually convinced him. Its unheard of for somebody to convince a Hollywood-type to do something like that. It was shocking. Frank House had no idea that anyone in Hollywood was examining his work. It was out of the clear blue, he said. We just got a phone call. They said, Were doing this movie called The Patriot with Mel Gibson, and we want to talk to you all about doing some work for us. They talked money, and Frank House assumed hed never hear from Sony again. Then, about two months later, he got a call telling him the movie people needed a 1770s Kentucky long rifle, two silver-mounted .65-caliber holster pistols and two of Lally Houses porcupine quill powder horn straps in 10 weeks. Well for Gods sakes, Frank House said of his reaction. Im gonna have to get … to work in the morning. In addition to making the guns, Columbia Pictures also asked Frank House to teach Gibson and the cast how to shoot the flintlocks. Since then, Frank House was on location in South Carolina about four times between October and January for 10 days to two weeks each time, and landed himself a small role in the film. Gibson fell in love with Frank and decided he needed to be in the movie, Wilkens said. With his long, brown pony tail and demeanor, he seems like someone right out of the 1700s perfect for the film. Frank House, who should be seen shooting beside Gibson in some of the films battle scenes, said working with Gibson was just like working with anyone else. If you didnt already know Mel was a big star, you would never know it by being with him on the set, he said. He carries on just like everybody else. Lally House was pleased by the trust that was put in her and her husband and by the artistic freedom they were granted. This is really good for us, she said. It lends credibility to what we do. Its a very nice honor to be a part of this, but it didnt change what we do for anybody. We take great pains to do everything ourselves. Thats why I dye all my quills with the same dyes that were used in the mid-1700s; thats why Frank hand forges all his hardware on the forge. The Houses consider themselves traditional artists, and they meticulously have researched 18th century methods and designs. The pieces they create are not exact copies of genuine articles from the period but are produced using the same materials and methods. Most people just dont understand how devilishly difficult all of this is, Frank House said. Handcrafting the guns requires him to be a woodworker, blacksmith, silversmith, engraver and historian, among other things. In other words, if it showed up at that time, in that period and in that place, it would not look out of sorts whatsoever, he said. Frank House also is an expert marksman with his period guns, twice winning national championship shooting matches. His gun stocks are carved from sugar maple; his barrels start as a flat piece of steel that then is bent into a tube. The silver and copper that embellish the works of art are melted, shaped and engraved by hand. Gibson was fascinated by Frank Houses work, Wilkens said. He saw the gun and loved it, Wilkens said. He thought it was incredible. He couldnt believe it was all handmade. At 17, Frank House followed in his fathers footsteps and became a boilermaker. He attended trade school and became a certified welder. It helped him in his artwork, he said. But after 10 years as a boilermaker, Frank House decided 11 years ago to pursue gunsmithing as a full-time job. If youve got something in you, youve got to get it out, he said. You raise your income up and youve got to lower your standard of living. Lally House started doing quill work when she was 17, after an American Indian showed her how to do basic embroidery. Everything else shes taught herself. Porcupine quill art is how the Eastern Woodland Indians added color to garments before beads were available. Lally House, who said she is one of only 12 to 14 people in America who do quill work, strives to keep her art authentic. For the dyes, she picks yellow root, blood root and sumac in autumn. For red dyes, she uses the same thing that was used in the 1700s cochineal bugs that feed on the Yucca plant. Out of those 12 to 14, only two of us, that I know of, use natural dyed quills, she said. Frank Houses work is advertised strictly by word of mouth. He said the best artists in his line of work dont have to advertise. If I was to advertise, Id get so covered up that Id never get anything done, he said. You dont want to get covered up. This is artwork. If youre gonna do good artwork youve got to put it ahead. The economics always take back seat. They have to … .If youre doing it purely for economics, then youre not an artist anymore. Then you become a craftsperson and there is a big difference. A true artist does it for the love of what theyre doing. Theyre not doing it to make money. All the money does is allow them to go to the next project and survive while theyre doing it. Thats all the money is really for. To Lally and I both, being successful is simply being able to do what you feel like you need to be doing.