Our farmhouse table

This is a table I made for my lovely wife. I must commend her for her patience because it took me nearly a year or more to put the time into it. It is made from pieces I had laying about the shop, some for several years. It is so hard for me to throw wood away just for this reason, someday I will find the perfect thing to make with it.

The center piece is a two foot wide slab that I purchased right around the time I met my wife about four and a half years ago. My lady loves simple rustic design so I left as much gray aged wood visible as I possibly could. 

I glued two 8" boards to the sides for extra width, hand planed all the edges and put a couple of coats of shellac. It was a nice departure from the complex, labor intensive work I usually do.

There are 117 apparent growth rings in the slab. The heart is right in the middle. It is usually the most  unstable parts of the tree, but this one only had a few small fractures. 

Custom Mahogany Dining Table

This African Mahogany table top is 4 feet wide and made from 2 pieces.

The tapered wedge and all other accents are made from Gaboon Ebony

Breadboard ends enhance the look of the table while keeping the top flat 

Mortise and tenon joints with small ebony pins hold the bases together and the large trestle with wedges  make the table both sturdy and handsome.  

Copper gutters

Copper gutters and rain chains are functional and beautiful. We finished all the joints by soldering for durability. 

The round ends on these gutters give a distinctive look as do the custom made brackets

The scrolls on the ends of the brackets add to the handmade look of the structure.

Thanks To Custom Sheet Metal for their help in completing this custom detail on this beautiful project. 

Custom Cypress bentwood

This is one of my favorite custom interior pieces I have done. The thin pieces wrapping around the piece are steam bent and laminated.

The shape of the end and middle pieces follow the grain of the cypress wood. The Japanese refer to the grain pattern on the end pieces as the flame.

The middle piece features a grain pattern resembling an eye. A track light system is inlaid in the under side.

 

Travertine stonework

One more phase complete on this beautiful project.  We had alot of fun working with these wonderful materials and using them in unique ways.

A custom travertine fleur de lis medallion in the middle of the floor breaks up the large space. 

The travertine tile is a french pattern laid on the diagonal. I have never seen this anywhere else. Another unique touch for this one of a kind project. 

The pattern is mirrored at the expansion joint between the old and new slabs. This was very challenging.

The seatwall dies into the split face cappadocia bar wall. We installed a double bullnose noce seatwall cap to give a finished look from both sides and a comfortable seating area.

The travertine blends very well with the cypress timbers.

The corners of the split face tavertine are mitered from one piece for a clean look with no exposed cut edges. 

 The kitchen area ready for the barbecue pit and the custom table we made still in the finishing stage. 

Notice the feet we made for the bottom of the post. These cover the brackets connection to the concrete and keep water away from the post.

Split face travertine

 This week we started on the stone work. The beginning of the end. We laid all the noce double bullnosed seat wall caps and one half of the bar bottoms with split face travertine. We mitered all the corners so that there are no exposed cut edges. Everything is coming out beautifully thanks to good materials and good help. My thanks to Guillaume and David for their companionship and hard work. Keep posted more pictures to come.

Cypress Hammerbeam

 before

after frame and brickwork is finished

The frame peeks over the antique St. Louis brick wall.

Imagine a large, medieval inspired gate made of wood with large iron hinges here.

My favorite client of all time Mr. Colin Hukins, owner of C&R Collision, is a professional finisher and did all of the finishing on his project from the metal brackets to the cypress table tops.

The brickwork of Mr Tony Meche really compliments the frame.

Copper gutters with rain chains will soon adorn the edge of the roof adding a touch of functional beauty.

The post and braces always remind me of a tree trunk and branches.

The evening sun fills the space with a warm glow. It is so rewarding to see this project moving closer to completion.  The next phase will be travertine stonework on top of the seat wall, beneath the bars and on the floor.  Then the pool in a few weeks and the landscaping this fall/winter.