Video Tour of Ace Architects Souvenir Building Collection

Ace Architects David Weingarten and Lucia Howard began collecting souvenir buildings and architectural art 40 years ago. As their acquisitions grew, including over 3,000 architectural models, they designed and built a two-story addition to their home as a gallery. “You get the feeling that maybe we’re obsessive of something,” Weingarten said. Curbed, the real-estate blog, created a VIDEO tour of their Lafayette, California home and collection. A few years ago, they started a business, Piraneseum, where they buy and sell Grand Tour architectural art from the 17th to 19th century Europe. “There are an awful lot of ways to be an architect and one way is to design buildings.” Weingarten says. "But I think with Piraneseum and the collection, it’s another way of being an architect.”