Cabin Fever

My recently completed House of Tree project, lit by kerosene lamps I’ve always loved designing and building cabins, and was thrilled to have two simultaneous commissions over the past year and a half, both of which are recently completed. I’d like to design more of these simple, hand-built houses and intend to promote these recent […]

Design for Quiddity

I reserved the best of the clear and quarter-sawn stock for cabinets and doors Today when my interior design project in Marin passed final inspections and the stress of pushing for completion began to recede, I was reminded of my initial inspiration- to make a place that has a distinct smell, identifiable with local flora. […]

Wowhaus Projects Update

Ene and me reflected in Anish Kapoor’s ‘Bean’ sculpture, Chicago, earlier this summer Before I launch full bore into documenting A Year in Surf I wanted to update current wowhaus projects. I will maintain a running log of projects as they accumulate, but will soon shift the focus of deepcraft to my active pursuit of […]

Shuffling the Tree

I can relate to the work style of a 1930’s American cabinet shop (public domain) After over a year of design development with the architect and client, selecting logs of deodar cedar and having them custom milled and cured to outfit the interior of a new guest house down the coast, I’m regaining perspective on […]

Touching the Wood

My projects always begin with sorting the pile, touching the wood Like cooking, working with wood engages all of the senses in symphony. Touch plays a major role in the early stages of a project, especially at the scale of fitting out the interior of a new building, like the Guest House that now requires […]

The Value of Apprenticeship

the house I built with George Smith, Germantown, NY, 1988-89 I’m a strong believer in apprenticeship as a paradigm for learning anything. Much of what I have put into practice in woodcraft and architecture I owe to my friend and mentor, George Smith of Tivoli, New York, with whom I worked side by side building […]

Russ Dotter Designs Houses with Gusto

recently framed Guest House in Marin County, designed by Russ Dotter My friend Russ Dotter designs houses that both anchor and enliven a site, as though the house and its surroundings grew up together through generations of mindful co-habitation. He has a gift for combining contemporary construction methods and a California modus vivendi with the […]