RESTORE & REVIVE. The Restoration Station is home to lost Americana and pop culture pieces made whole by proprietors John and and Pat Cartmill in this old-school gas station-style building.

As you drive through farmland and past barns in the southeastern part of Dunn County you might stumble across a spot that makes you think you’ve driven back in time. The Restoration Station appears to be a 1940s gas station, making you feel as if you’re on Route 66 and not a county road in Wisconsin. 

The front of the building is outfitted with authentic gas pumps and a working lamp, signaling that this shop is authentic to its dedication to repurposing and restoring vintage Americana.

John and Pat Cartmill are the proprietors of The Restoration Station. It’s a shop in both definitions of the word. There’s the store aspect in the main space of the building where items are for sale. Neon lights, pinball machines, arcade games, and jukeboxes are the main pieces in the store. But this shop space is also used for the repair, restoration, and visioning of items. 

John took something that likely would end up in a landfill and created a one of a kind piece that is now proudly displayed on someone's wall.

John said the origins of the Restoration Station started when he had the idea to make their home’s basement into a diner. They had all the elements pulled together, like the black and white floor tiles, but he needed a a jukebox. “I found one that had the look I wanted but it was a mess mechanically,” John said. He took it all apart, made repairs and put it back together. That was 40-plus years ago.

The building’s external appearance reveals John’s original inspiration was automobiles. He has a background as an auto technician and then as a computer technician. His career path often involved both areas of this type of technical and mechanical work. 

John said he has always been a tinkerer and always wants to learn how things worked. That dedication and knowledge allowed him to rebuild that original jukebox for their basement. After that he expanded what he restored. John said he would figure out what needed to be fixed on an item, such as a pinball machine, and would learn how to do repairs by watching experts on the internet. He continues that today. He said his wife joked that he should never watch Oppenheimer.

John’s mechanical skills are impressive in and of themselves. But when you look around the Restoration Station, it’s clear these skills are combined with an artistic and creative vision that allows him not only to restore pieces but to subtly reinvent them, often in ways that are tailored to the person that buys them.

John and Pat Cartmill inside the shop.

“I’m more of a curator than a creator,” John said.

When he restores an arcade game, he makes sure the game works, but also thinks about where this piece will be on display. Not surprisingly most of the games are in rooms where people entertain in their homes, so he often builds in a mini-fridge to the front of the arcade cabinet.

Throughout the showroom you see examples of how John’s intentional and creative design showcases his technical and mechanical abilities with artistic and creative vision. For example when he had non-restorable pinball machines in his storage buildings, he wanted to find some new use for the back boxes, the part you face when you’re playing the game. Many of them have fun pop culture images that are like artwork. John said he first just rebuilt them so they could be displayed on a wall. Then took it a step further and made the box a cabinet you could open with a remote with LED lights inside. Some of these even have audio that matches the visual. John took something that likely would end up in a landfill and created a one-of-a-kind piece that is now proudly displayed on someone’s wall.

“We don’t even know what we are building until it speaks to us,” John said.

He also does commissioned work, such as tabletop games that he builds to fit the interests and specifications of the customer. Most of these are music, hobby, or sports-themed. He does the technical work to ensure the game functions, but works magic on ensuring the details – such as the game joystick and buttons and dials – fit the theme. For example a rock-band themed game has a guitar knob for a dial.

The Restoration Station and John’s work ethic demonstrates the ideals of restoration and repair. He has five buildings full of items after collecting for 50 or so years. The machines themselves can be restored or they have pieces that can be salvaged and used in other machines. “We need to think about repair and not just replace,” John said.

While John leads the work of the shop, he’s not alone in the restoration process. He built another space next to the Restoration Station where his wife sells antiques and paintings called The Patty Shack. He credits his wife with finding some of the items he restores. He said she also does much of the painting and detail work on his restorations. When his adult children come home they often jump in and help with whatever John’s working on as well. He has a few others who work with him in his shops, but mostly on a volunteer basis.

While one might feel like stepping into the Restoration Station is like a step back in time – it isn’t that simple. John’s process of restoration involves recognition of new tools that can allow older technologies to shine again. Sometimes he melds a cool table top jukebox with new technology and music. Other times he rethinks the functionality of a piece, such as a table side jukebox, and figures out how he can make it work in today’s world.

Restoration and storage garage.