Wither Thom Price?

A couple years ago I posted about Thom Price, a young American who opened a traditional gondola workshop in Venice called Squero Canaletto.

(Squero is Venetian dialect for -- surprise -- "gondola workshop") .

Thom had a website with occasionally functional webcams that showed the building process. Lots of Veniceblog readers visited the real atoms-and-molecules version of the squero out in Cannaregio when they were in town.

A reader from the UK wrote me this morning that the word is that the squero is now up for sale and his website is down. I checked the web, and sure enough, the squero.com domain expired on the 29th of September and was not renewed.

Anyone have more info? I must have missed this in the Gazzettino.

Comments

[Mark]

We are sorry to hear that Thom may no longer be running the shop in Venezia. It is a shame that future visitors will miss out on the chance to tour the squero. We were lucky enough to meet Thom last year and are thankful for opportunity. He was the source of a fantasic restaurant recommendation which we will be eternally grateful for!! Best wishes and all happiness to Thom.

[Dawn]

This is terrible! I love that site. A few months ago I noticed that alot of the photos were no longer available. I thought they might be revamping the site.

[Ignacio]

Ho visto un po' il tuo blog. Complimenti, mi è piaciuto veramente tanto. Ci sono delle fotografie bellissime. Sei veramente bravo.

Sapresti dove potrei trovare una fotografia della Giudecca 360º? Sarebbe una figata.

Grazie di tutto!

==========================
Ne ho fatta una foto di 300 gradi o qualcosa sulla fondamenta vicino di Il Redentore .... ma non 360. Ecco ci qua: http://veniceblog.typepad.com/veniceblog/2004/01/canale_della_gi.html

Norman Hajjar

[nan]

I heard from a couple of gondoliers that Thom lost his lease for the squero...what a pity.

This is becoming increasingly common, as property values in Venice soar. All sorts of owners are abandoning long-term leases in any form almost on a daily basis, as they opt either for sales or lucrative, short-term leases (lucrative at least according to local gossip, which counts for a great deal, as we all know).

p.s. Can you tell I don't own property, and am in constant search of a long-term lease at "un prezzo abbordabile?" ;-)

[Joseph]

I was outside Thom's yard last February and nothing seemed to be happening. A shame - I wonder where he is now? I gather that there are only two squeri left now. There is the site of one extant but closed not far from Thom's yard.

[CarolK]

I am told that Thom could not renew hislease for the squero...this is so sad...

[Tammy Clemons]

Aww! I'm so sad! Thom's an old friend from our time at Berea College together. He's amazing. I was trying to get in touch with him and discovered your blog. Any news on how to contact him?

[jingle]

Any more updates?

[jingle]

Any updates?????

[Austin]

I am a journalist writing a story about gondolas. I'm trying to track down Thom Price. If anyone hears from him, please let me know. Thanks.

[Andreas Götz]

Hi Austin,
I am sorry I don't know anything about Thom Price. But some month ago I founded a school for venetian rowing (and I am confronted with the same problems as Thom). If you have any questions about venetian rowing for your writing about gondolas just ask me.
The english version of my homepage www.girovogando.eu doesn't work until friday.
andreconesse@yahoo.it
greatings

[Marc]

I wish to construct a gondola and knew Thom sold plans. If anyone hears from him, please let me know. Or if anyone knows were I could obtain plans elsewhere please let me know.

[Ian]

Wish I was in Venice now...great post!

Ian

[Bert]

It's a bit late for this comment now on "Wither Thom Price?", but I'll make it anyway. Your headline is, I'm sure, not a deliberate pun on "Whither Thom Price?" and "Wither, Thom Price."
-----------------------------------
Reason 12,314 I will never work for the New York Post: a history of creating headlines that contain "jokes" that .0006% of the audience gets. Too wit.

N.

[Pamela Peniston]

Norman! Whither thee? I miss your insightful and festive posts!!

Hi Pam. Still reading comments and responding to most email (except the "will you be my travel agent" stuff.) Amazingly the site still gets nearly a half million hits/year. I am so slammed at the moment professionally that writing posts seems impractical. That will change. Not sure when reignition will occur, but it will. A presto.

[Bob Easton]

I too am sorry to hear Thom lost the business. Over the past several years I tried to contact him about an internship, but heard no response. It would be interesting to know what he's up to now.

I passed by what used to be Squero Canaletto just two days ago and took a couple of photos. The shop now has the name "Generali." I saw no gondolas. Instead, the boats being worked look like Sandolo, wooden work boats with a traditional sloped stem and a flat transom similar to what we in the U.S. call Dorys. There were 8-10 of them in the shop and a couple outside. Most are painted red with white bottoms and natural finihed sheer rails. I'm guessing these are restorations rather than new construction but may be wrong.

See the pictures I took here:
http://flickr.com/photos/73765615@N00/sets/72157601384299650/