TolHouse is proud to present the Take the Leap: TolHouse 2025 Entrepreneurship Grant, a program supporting Toledo’s next wave of visionary founders. Recipients gain a full-year TolHouse Membership, workspace at Panda Workspace, business mentorship, and opportunities to showcase their businesses—all designed to help entrepreneurs build their legacy in our city.
Meet Frank Gibbs, founder of The Wood Window Clinic and one of this year’s grant recipients. Frank’s passion for architectural preservation and precision craftsmanship makes him a perfect fit for this program. In this interview, he shares his journey, vision, and how TolHouse is helping him restore Toledo’s historic beauty, one window at a time.
TolHouse: Share the story behind The Wood Window Clinic. What inspired you to start this business, and how has it evolved since you began restoring windows in 2023?
Frank: A long time ago, I thought I wanted to be an architect. Design, structures, drafting by hand, and studying the greats were fascinating. I remember a trip to Ann Arbor where my class and I looked at a LEED building that used several sustainable design measures like windows that utilized convection cooling and a green roof. It felt like the design school I went to wanted to mentor the next Frank Gehry without talking about the existing structures we already have in favor of the next big design wave. So, without much initial direction, I switched out of architecture and into psychology, then eventually pursued a master’s in Mental Health Counseling at BGSU.
Fast forward to moving to the Old West End with my girlfriend (now wife), and it was as if I stepped through a portal. Having grown up in suburbia, I had almost zero exposure to buildings like these, and in no time, it ignited a passion to figure out all the design and craftsmanship choices—the wood floors, fancy door knobs, and the windows! As every old home person knows, the house needed some much-needed love, and I dove into figuring out how to fix some of these things. When I couldn’t find contractors to help, I turned to YouTube videos and Instagram accounts that I reached out to. The same principles behind that Ann Arbor building resonated in the information I was finding out about these windows—over 100 years before that Ann Arbor building had implemented similar techniques.
I tried my hand on a couple of windows on my own from what I could learn, and a few years later, plus a well-timed layoff and encouragement from my wife, I looked into the feasibility of being a restorer. The same people I learned this craft from were the same people that told me I could do it. I put myself out there, received the go-ahead on an estimate, and finished the job. I wondered when the next call and estimate would happen, but then someone else called about a window job, then another call, and another, to the point where I figured I would do this until the calls stopped—but they haven’t since December of 2023, so I figure I’ll just keep doing it.
TolHouse: How do you bring your unique passion and craftsmanship to your clients’ historic windows?
Frank: I am painfully meticulous and approach each window project with the focus of an art piece. It is my portfolio, my craftsmanship, and with that in mind, it is a reflection of my own ability as much as my work ethic. In thinking about the artistic components of this trade, I want to give these long-forgotten and neglected windows the care I imagined they got when they were new. I imagine the sad state they’ve found themselves in as a bit of a cry for help. It’s not their fault and, to a large extent, it’s not the homeowners’ fault either—life just kind of gets in the way, and we prioritize one thing over another until something starts to fall apart.
Some contractors I’ve invited to look at my own house have called this a “labor of love,” and while this trade is very manual-labor intensive, there’s a profound ability to see something that you restore continue on another 100 years. It’s the knowledge of how craftspeople did this that has been kicked to the side by the demand for productivity, speed, and convenience while taking less and less time for that increased “efficiency.” And it’s the coming back around to these traits that’s required to restore and maintain the buildings we have.
“There’s a profound ability to see something that you restore continue on another 100 years.”
TolHouse: How do you envision your work contributing to Toledo’s architectural preservation and local trades?
Frank: Toledo is a big part of the rust belt where industry prevailed until newer technologies made various aspects of Toledo’s roots obsolete. Because of this, I believe it created a sort of vacuum for historic trades and preservation, and I want to be part of the revitalization that brings those skills and abilities back. Architectural preservation is a balance between material science and technical ability. While my focus may be on the windows, it goes hand-in-hand with the “labor of love” that is required to restore and maintain the buildings we do have. Otherwise, we begin to prioritize letting buildings deteriorate to just be replaced by something new and shiny that won’t last half as long as the things we just let crumble.
TolHouse: What excites you most about joining the TolHouse community, and how do you think this Membership will impact your business?
Frank: TolHouse brings such a creative spin to this area, and I see a huge influx of and focus on younger entrepreneurs. There’s so much overlap in industries converging at TolHouse. I see business approached as an artistic patchwork of experience, passion, and perspective. It’s like they’ve opened the door to anyone that wants to take care of Toledo regardless of whether you’re from here or stumbled out of the surrounding cornfields. As long as you see the beauty in the rust and the chipping paint, you’re part of their vision and passion too.
