The architect was also the toymaker

Elia Powers

Robert Borders built an architecture and interior design firm from

scratch, hand selecting its parts and shaping its form for more than

37 years.

But it wasn’t his favorite construction project.

Borders’ greatest pride came from his toys -- the model ships,

trains, cars and planes he designed, assembled and often gave away as

gifts.

Friends, family and business partners knew of his hobby. They

donated appliance parts and spare scraps to Borders, who used them to

construct replicas of vintage vehicles.

“I would walk into the room and see him looking at a small piece

of junk,” said Borders’ wife, Ruth. “The next thing I knew, he’d turn

it into a whistle on a train.”

A 10-year resident of Newport Coast and Newport Beach, Borders

died Feb. 4 of an inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis. He was 73.

As the story goes, Borders first began making models as a

teenager, living in Casper, Wyo.

He and his friends found their way into occasional mischief,

according to Jim Borders, Robert’s son. When the group was caught

throwing smoke bombs inside a Casper courthouse, the judge ordered

each kid to pick up an activity to occupy his time.

Borders chose construction. He started by building wooden model

trains, which he brought to California when he served his stint in

the U.S. Navy.

Borders met Ruth in Long Beach. She was dating one of his friends

at the time.

“I decided I’d rather date him,” she said. “He was a very charming

man.”

The two were married in 1957, and they raised three children in

Cypress.

Ten years later, Borders founded Robert Borders & Associates, a

company that now has 14 employees. Company partner Joe Petitpas said

Borders was one of the first in the architecture field to expand his

business to include commercial interiors.

Running the company took most of Borders’ time, though he

continued to make model airplanes -- but not fly them -- from his

home studio. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s, when his first grandchild

was born, that Borders returned full-time to his toy construction

routine.

“Everyone who had a baby in the family or in the office or in the

neighborhood got a personalized race car,” Petitpas said.

Borders mass-produced the small vehicles, from 1930 Cadillacs to

1926 Mack Bulldog trucks. He drew blueprints, gathered parts and

displayed his work on shelves in his office.

And Borders let his designing go beyond model cars. He built a

wooden case to send to his friend, Robert Hand, a Casper lawyer.

Inside that case was a letter Borders and Hand had sent back and

forth every Christmas since 1950. Each time, one person added a note

to the letter, attempting to keep the other updated on his life.

In one of Borders’ final mailings, he attached a calculator to the

letter and gave his friend directions on how to decode the message

inside.

“He was always toying with people,” Jim Borders said.