Chris Demchak

Chris has spent more than twenty years building things out of wood that are meant to outlast the people who commissioned them. He trained in the trade the old way, in working shops, and has run his own bench ever since: designing, milling, joining, carving and finishing each piece himself.

The range of the work is wide because the clients have been. Homeowners have asked for kitchens, libraries, staircases and baths. A collegiate Gothic university campus asked for carved oak doors, refectory tables, reading-room furniture and benches built around the trees of its quadrangle. Cafés, offices and a veterinary hospital asked for millwork that would take a beating. Neighbors in Oakdale have asked for everything from a wood-fired brick oven to a porch railing.

What holds it together is the method: solid lumber and proper joinery, doors and drawers fitted by hand, finishes rubbed out rather than sprayed on, and an eye for proportion that comes from decades of looking at good old work. Most photographs in the portfolio were taken on the bench or on site, with a phone, because the point was never the photograph.

Chris takes on custom furniture, kitchen design and cabinetry, built-ins and libraries, doors and architectural millwork, furniture restoration, finish carpentry and renovation and commercial millwork.

The shop is in the old artists’ colony of Oakdale, on the Connetquot River, and serves Long Island, New York City and southern New England. Commissions are taken by appointment.