Deer Ridge Resident in VC Star

My friend and original Deer Ridge resident Fred Nuesca was featured in an article in the Ventura County Star the other day.  He has quite an amazing knack for restoring antiques and in particular, cash registers.  Thanks to the Ventura County Star for granting permission to post this article and to reporter Stephanie Hoops.

Retiree restores antiques

Newbury Park man likes cash registers most

By Stephanie Hoops

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Cash registers, clocks, slot machines, an old dentist's chair — you name it, Nuesca has fixed, cleaned, polished and refurbished it.

"I like taking things that have served in a business or something and then were replaced by the newer things and set aside and forgotten," he said. "I like to take them and bring them back to their original condition, the way they were originally finished."

JC Plumbing N Things in Thousand Oaks recently sent Nuesca an antique water heater used during the early 20th century.

One of the store's owners, Scott Jordan, said the company is paying from $3,500 to $5,000 for the restoration work in hope that it will be an interesting showroom display that will get people talking. It will take several months to complete.

"It'll be burgundy and the rivets will be in polished copper," Jordan said. "Then he'll highlight different valves and the legs in different colors."

"To me, it's a beautiful piece and it's in excellent original condition," Nuesca said.

Out in his garage, he has a backlog of work waiting for his magic touch. Business is thriving, with orders coming in from businesses like JC Plumbing, individuals, museums and Hollywood.

The HBO television series "Deadwood" featured his work, for example. Nuesca won't disclose his prices, stressing that they vary.

Camarillo resident Tracy Kern took her mother's antique furnace to Nuesca for restoration several years ago. Once used to heat her mother's home, it now serves as a decorative piece in her foyer.

"There's not one person who does not come over and does not mention it," she said.

"I show them the before pictures and nobody can believe it. It was rusted and ready for the dump. He's a miracle worker."

The interesting thing about Nuesca is that he's a 70-year-old retiree who worked for 32 years as a Los Angeles firefighter before turning to restoration full time.

Cash registers are his favorite.

"As I work on them, I wonder whose fingers touched them," he said. "Each register has a story."

The stiff keys inviting to be punched usually have numbers on them, and sometimes have words printed on them, like "glass," "pint," and even "quart."

Nuesca once ran across a key that said "bath" for charging cowboys willing to pay to clean up.

"I guess cowboys would come in and get sort of raunchy," he said.

Laughing, Nuesca said one key he found read "upstairs."

It was as a child in the 1940s while working after school in a West Los Angeles hardware store that Nuesca first fell in love with cash registers. In between sweeping and sorting the nuts and bolts, he stumbled upon an old cash register that the owner allowed him to tinker with.

"That's where the bond was formed," he said.

Around 1959, he bought an antique candy store register to restore.

"It became an obsession," he said. "I sat up at night thinking about it. How does this work? How does that work?"

Today, Nuesca's home appears like a monument to the Victorian Age. As Tank, his 14-pound tortoise, strolls about, one can hear the sound of clocks ticking and a barbershop pole whirling. The bathroom even has a pull-chain toilet.

His pride and joy is a Model Zero register, the first made by the National Cash Register Co. He jokes that it cost so much it almost ended his marriage.

"Very, very rare," he said.

It sits with several other restored registers in his living room. Nuesca points out that the house has an elaborate security system.

"I encourage anyone to call me to talk about cash registers," he said.

"If it's three in the morning, that's fine."

Nuesca can be reached at 498-7229.