Custom Metal of Peconic, founded by Antoine Bourel in 1986, is one of the best-known and most respected specialty roofing contractors on the East End of Long Island. The East End of Long Island, full of historical heritage, boasts many historical structures, such as museums, churches, meetinghouses, farms, and mills, some dating from the 17th century. Long Island has an estimated 100 First Period houses- built between 1639 and 1720 - that are still standing. Residentially, the East End is now home to an architectural melting pot: techno-mansions, soothing waterfront escapes that take their cues from English manor houses, sprawling compounds, Tuscan fantasy villas, concrete houses with decks like ocean liners, geodesic domes, gingerbread Victorians, saltboxes and postmoderns. In the 1980's the Hamptons witnessed a revival in the construction of great country homes, the originals of which were not immune to fate and fortune and had been disappearing over the last decades. A new generation of country homes is rising again, as evidenced in the sprawling estates taking hold in the slivers of Nassau's North Shore and in the gilded Hamptons.

It was within the architecturally and historically rich environment described above that Antoine Bourel, a native of Rennes, France, founded Custom Metal of Peconic. As a young man he worked as an occasional gofer for a mason in the South of France, and later apprenticed with a fellow Frenchman who owned a roofing business in Noyac, Long Island, acquiring an expertise in the area of specialty roofing. Mr. Bourel then set off on his own, and notes that he built his business "from what I knew, from what I learned from books, and from trial and error." Starting with only a two-man crew, the little jobs became big jobs. The first was a 17,000 square-foot slate roof for a house in Southampton. That was followed by multiple residential projects on the East End, as well as commercial work, including tens of thousands of square feet of slate roofs and copper work at the University of New Hampshire, Dartmouth and Yale University.

Custom Metal of Peconic was well-positioned to take advantage of the excellent market conditions and the demand for palatial estates in the style of European country homes and bold, elaborate trophy homes, whose owners desire roofing and architectural construction details that look back for inspiration and a sense of place. The company also expanded as a result of its expertise in the maintenance, repair, and historic renovation of landmark structures on the East End, as municipalities sought historic restoration of its delicate properties.

Custom Metal of Peconic specializes in the construction of exotic roofs using slate, tile, and copper. It installs roofing slate and clay tile, and manufactures and installs custom metal roof systems. Custom Metal of Peconic also constructs, restores and repairs ornamental copper and zinc work, including decorative structures like wind chimes, suncatchers, weather vanes, exterior lamps, flower pots, and uniquely-cast rain collectors.

In addition, the company is frequently called upon to repair roofing mistakes. For example, traditional slate roofs are splendidly successful roofing systems that can easily function as a waterproof covering on a building for 100 years or more. Antoine Bourel has knowledge of the different types of slate, their origins, longevities, characteristics, and qualities, and can identify them by sight. However, the problems facing many slate roofs today is not natural attrition, flashing failures, broken slates or global slate failures, but sadly, amateur work, bad repairs, abuse and neglect. Custom Metal of Peconic is poised to advise clients on how to keep their slate roofs alive for centuries, marrying unmatched, natural durability with beauty to resist the assaults of rain, wind, and snow.

The kind of specialized roofing and architectural construction techniques described above are known and practiced by a handful of master craftsmen and compagnons in Europe who have acquired such skills and are dedicated to the highest knowledge and finest execution of manual building trades. Antoine Bourel's knowledge of the craft, proficiency in design and technical drawing, and experience and skills in the shop and on the field are at work in every company contract, including major reconstruction and renovation projects, striking and reassembling jobs, historical conservation projects, and new, innovative building projects. Methods and systems developed and utilized by Custom Metal of Peconic are those that have been perfected throughout the centuries in Europe into a system that has proven its effectiveness. The great halls, cathedrals and other European buildings of the past 800 years, still standing and in use to this day, are examples of these traditions. Custom Metal of Peconic merges the roofing style techniques of the old world with local industry standards. The company employs specialized craftsmen (roofers, cement masons, specialized tinsmiths, metal workers, stone masons, wood workers, brick workers, and glazers), French masons and carpenters (les Compagnons du Devoir du Tour de France), who today stand together as the highest order of the trades, and talented local roofers in its efforts to honor European antecedents and continue a tradition of consummate artistry.