Woodworking wizard brings talent to San Mateo

Hall, who spent his formative years in Canada and ended up in Atlanta by way of the Georgia Institute of Technology, takes on a wide range of requests, from using unique artistic designs to building 16-foot wine bars. But some of his most common projects of late involve incorporating a tree with sentimental value into a table or other furniture. After being cut down, Hall cuts the log into slabs and uses it in the piece, something that has proven more popular on the West Coast than in Georgia.

“It happens more in California. I think people are more attached to their trees out here than they were in Atlanta,” he said. “But I think it’s super cool. They get to keep them in the family as heirloom furniture pieces that they can pass down.”

A student of mechanical engineering and astrophysics while in college, Hall is more a “numbers-side-of-the-brain person,” but enjoys the creative challenges that come with designing new furniture from scratch. Each piece takes anywhere from six weeks to five months to complete, depending on the intricacy and customer request, and hover around $3,000 for coffee tables and similarly-sized pieces. Most are meant to fill residential homes, although he has also built furniture for commercial establishments, such as restaurants or hotel lobbies.

Though he recently went full time with Maker and the Moose less than a year ago — the name an ode to Canadian wildlife — his interest in building furniture goes back to his childhood.

“My grandfather worked in a steel mill his whole life, but he was a hobbyist woodworker and he used to build really intricate clocks and smaller things. … I always used to go out and help him cut out some clock pieces and stuff, and that sparked my interest in woodworking when I was really, really young,” he said.

Hall refined his construction skills in high school, working as a roofer and framing houses, then started a remodeling company in college. He began creating pieces for himself and then others, stating he just wanted to have nice furniture, despite being a student with little disposable income.

But such a penchant for high-quality goods didn’t stop at furniture. In addition to pursuing his degree, Hall immersed himself in the quest for consuming and concocting the perfect cup of coffee, harboring a particularly refined coffee palette, especially for a university student.

“I was the bougiest, fanciest coffee drinker, doing the most crazy brewing methods. All my friends thought I was an idiot, buying these really fancy coffees and doing science experiments to make them,” he said.

But after receiving funds from a program at his college, Docent Coffee, a coffee roastery still operating in the southeast, was born soon after Hall graduated. And while the now-Mountain View resident still appreciates a good cup of coffee, he said his furniture business allows him to deepen relationships with customers and hone his craft.

“I had to deal with thousands of customers a month before, and here, I just work with a handful,” he said. “I actually prefer this way. It’s a little more intimate. I get to know people. I get to learn about their family history and what their visions are for their home and their furniture in their home. I just have a much closer relationship with the customers out here.”

alyse@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102