Alan,
I have to agree with the concensus here, this stuff is absolutely mint.
You were saying that this is your 11th staircase in 10 years, I find that fact in itself, pretty mind-blowing, especially when I see pictures like this, it's obvious that these things aren't merely chopped up with a saw and nailed together.
The design and planning that goes into one of these projects must be huge.
BTW, I must say I like Mrs B's finishing work, timber should always be shown as timber.
I know of some people that had a really ornate 1920's staircase (made of heart rimu) in their house.
They sanded all the french polishing off of it and painted it (get this) Gloss White, because the new wall-paper clashed with it.
Oddly enough Alan,
Where do you get exotic timbers like Cedar of Lebanon from?
Exotic timber over here has more or less died out (the supply of I mean), about the most exotic sort of thing we can get here is Jarrah, and that is from Aussie.
One last question,
How are them "snails" at the bottom of the stair rails made?
It looks like a lot of work in them alone.
] boarded at a local mill, and I sold a lot of it on, including most of a Sequoia [?] Giant Redwood, which is now cladding a workshop in Ireland. Weird bark, like coconut fibre and it stinks! 
