In a modest workshop tucked away in Soquel, a kind of magic is happening. It’s not sleight-of-hand, but the patient, skilled work of coaxing light back into fixtures that have been dark for years. This is Mario’s Lighting, a local gem where century-old chandeliers and quirky ’70s lamps are given a new lease on life.
The business is a family affair. While owner Mario Guizar is often out on installations, his friendly and welcoming brother-in-law, Dave Kalstrom, can be found overseeing the workshop—a space that feels both like a craftsman’s studio and a showroom of illuminated history. On a recent afternoon, Dave was methodically working on his latest challenge: a pair of magnificent chandeliers from a 100-year-old mansion in San Jose.
“They need to be rewired and work,” he explains, gesturing to the intricate brass fixture on his workbench. The original wiring, brittle and crumbling, poses a significant fire hazard. The solution is a complete overhaul. “I have to take a lot of it apart,” he says. “It’s kind of a technique to taking the old wire out and putting the new wire in.” His trick? Carefully leaving the old wire in place to act as a guide, pulling the new, safe wire through the fixture’s narrow, winding channels.
It’s a puzzle that requires more than just patience; it requires expertise. And Dave has it in spades. With a background as an electrical engineer and a marketer—holding both an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in business—he’s uniquely suited for the task. “Probably the more advanced electronics,” he notes, is where his skills shine. “We do get electronics in here; sometimes that helps to have my electrical engineering background.”
The heart and soul of the operation, of course, is Mario himself. His journey into the world of lighting began not with a grand passion but with a practical start in construction. “I was working construction work, and I started doing electrical work for the construction guy,” he recalls. A chance encounter on a job led him to an antique dealer who needed someone to rewire his light fixtures. “I started helping him, and that’s where I took off,” Mario says. “I learned a trade. I started reading more about chandeliers and the history of chandeliers. And the more I learned, the more interested I got into it.”
That interest blossomed into a full-fledged passion. Mario took welding and bronzing classes at Cabrillo College, learning how to restore the finishes on worn-out antiques. “A lot of the old antiques were all worn out and damaged,” he explains. “So I learned how to restore antiques to be new.” To Mario, nearly everything is restorable. “You just gotta know how it looked to begin with,” he says.
His artistic impulse extends beyond lighting. Displayed in the shop are small, whimsical figurines—creatures and characters skillfully crafted from recycled tin cans. The inspiration for this side project, it turns out, came from the pages of Good Times itself. After seeing a photo of a similar creation in an early 2000s issue, Mario thought, “I can make some of those,” and began crafting his own unique versions, turning discarded materials into folk art.
His main workshop is proof of his years of experience. Tucked away in a corner of the building, it’s a space filled with what he calls “very, very rudimentary tools”—chain spreaders, paints, acids for creating bronze finishes, pipe cutters, and a collection of bits and pieces gathered over four decades. It’s in this space that he brings heirlooms back to life.
One of his most memorable projects came in the aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He was tasked with restoring all the chandeliers in a historic house on Main Street, by the Boardwalk. “They were gas lights,” Mario says, his voice filled with reverence. “The owner wanted to keep it gas lights, but the city didn’t allow us to do gas anymore. And they were the original lights to the house.” The owner, Pat Weiler of the Weiler Ranch, entrusted him with these 1800s-era fixtures. Mario painstakingly converted them to electric, preserving their historic beauty while ensuring their safety for a new era. “That was one of those jobs that you really get happy to do,” he says.
The business name itself has a story. Originally, “Mario’s Antique Lighting,” a customer wisely pointed out that the name might be limiting. “If you specify antique lighting, that means you only do an antique light. So people that are looking for fixing modern lights, they’re not going to come to you,” Mario recounts her saying. “Why don’t you just make it broad, Mario’s Lighting?”
Having started in a small space at the Red Barn in Aptos, he has been a fixture in the local antique scene for about 40 years. “A lot of people love to restore their house to their original condition,” he says, noting the prevalence of Victorian, Mission and Art Deco styles in Santa Cruz. “And that’s why I come in and restore them.”
In an age of disposable goods, Mario sees his work as a form of recycling. “When you buy an antique, you are saving the planet, because that chandelier is already made,” he says. But it’s more than just an environmental benefit; it’s also the warmth and character these pieces bring to a home. “There’s nothing like an antique light, because it has charm and it brings beauty to your house.”
With a steady stream of customers from over the hill and plans to potentially open a shop in Monterey, the future of Mario’s Lighting looks bright. But for now, the magic continues in the Soquel workshop, where Mario and Dave, two masters of their craft, continue to bring light to the darkness, one beautiful, restored fixture at a time.
Find Mario’s Lighting at 3025 Porter St. in Soquel. Tell them Good Times sent you!
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