‘Magician Windows’ to Do a Disappearing Act : Art: The former Merlin McFly’s singles bar is being remodeled, and for $325,000, the nine glimmering stained glass creations can be yours.

Michael Leeds remembers vividly the excitement he felt 15 years ago when he and three other artists worked day and night at the Bonny Doon Studio in the Santa Cruz Mountains, piecing together a glimmering series of stained glass windows that would adorn a restaurant on Santa Monica’s Main Street known as Merlin McFly’s.

“We were sort of eating, breathing and living this creative adventure,” Leeds recalled. “We caught the crest of the wave of art glass awareness.”

The result of more than two years’ work was the “Magician Windows,” nine intricate depictions of Merlin, Aladdin, Houdini and other famous names from the history and mythology of magic and sorcery. Merlin McFly’s, conceived as a magnet for Westside singles, soon also began drawing stained glass enthusiasts from throughout the country.

But the windows have outlived McFly’s. Once part of a thriving statewide chain, the Santa Monica McFly’s closed last year--a victim, like many singles bars in recent years, of AIDS, the recession and stiffer drunk-driving laws. On the first of the year, Main Street businessman Theodore Lonsway took over the lease.

Lonsway, whose other Main Street properties include Lula Cocina Mexicana and Gilliland’s Cafe, said he hopes to attract a new crowd by replacing the garish look of McFly’s with that of a down-home cafe.

Today, Lonsway hopes to cash in on the prized magician windows and other remnants of the bar with a tag sale. He is selling the nine windows as part of a package including an ornate, hand-carved mahogany bar and two sets of doors with stained glass windows of Grateful Dead-style skeletons. The price? A mere $325,000.

“Usually when you buy a restaurant you have to scrap everything,” Lonsway said. “This is one of the few times we saw some value.”

Stained-glass lovers say the windows are extraordinary. Lonsway has received at least 50 calls from people around the country interested in buying them.

“I think they are remarkable workmanship and represent a resurgence of interest in the craft,” said Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend, former president of the Glass Arts Society and a Los Angeles stained glass artist. “The windows reflect a ‘60s rock style with a kind of nouveau sensibility.”

Leeds, who designed the magician windows, regards them as the finest example of his work and credits the collection with shaping the reputation of the Bonny Doon studio. (The studio created window collections for two other McFly’s bars, one featuring classic cars, the other depicting scenes of the French Foreign Legion.)

“Within the realm of stained glass we became celebrities,” Leeds said. “I still get calls from around the world from people who have seen the windows.”

The six-foot-diameter panels include a trio of famous magicians named Harry: Houdini making his famous escape from a German prison, Kellar performing his classic levitation trick, and Blackstone summoning a spirit from the great beyond.

The McFly’s chain originally paid $144,000 for the magician collection, Leeds said.

Despite their wide recognition, Bonny Doon windows are not a part of any museum collection, studio founder John Forbes said.

Some glass experts, in fact, do not consider the magician windows great examples of art.

“In my opinion, the windows are very well-executed and they are by one of the most respected studios,” said Ruth T. Summers, co-owner of Kurland-Summers Gallery in West Hollywood. “They were made with incredible craftsmanship--but they are not art.”

Stinsmuehlen-Amend agrees. “It’s like saying is Mad magazine great art? It’s not. It’s a different genre. There’s not that intellectual removal from the subject. The windows have a psychedelic-poster fluidity.”