ABOUT
..why work with us?
Jared grew up in Washington State drawing, designing, and building. Twenty years later he still is. He studied Finance & Economics at Washington State University, but the pull toward art, craftsmanship, and working with his hands never went away.
His carpentry career started in an Idaho mountain town, designing and building custom outbuildings. Framing paid the bills, but he wanted to learn to build things that would last, so he took an apprenticeship under master craftsmen at a custom carpentry and woodworking shop. They specialized in custom commissioned cabinets, furniture, and mill work. Apprentice wages meant living in an unheated shed. For half the year he woke to ice on the inside and his breath hanging in the air like smoke. Remember, these were mountain winters with snow and ice on the ground most of the year. He stayed anyway. That shop taught him the difference between a laborer and a carpenter.
Timber framing was the next step. He studied under master timber framers and learned the old way: layout by hand, mortise and tenon joinery cut by hand, and frames raised the way they’ve been raised for centuries. True carpenters belong in the same company as blacksmiths and masons. They are skilled artisans, and they are rare on job sites now.
Jared brought both disciplines together, fine woodworking and traditional timber framing, and built JEOHWOOD on them. He builds each project the way he learned to, with quality and craftsmanship.
CORE VALUES
Craft
With highly manufactured components and materials, today’s building methods have reduced the trades to prefabricators, installers, and laborers. Master carpenters and woodworkers are not involved in today’s building process. Due to massive marketing budgets in commercial building products, brands, and services, their talents have been relegated to small workshops, building elegant furniture, cabinetry, and instruments. As recently as the early 20th century, these highly skilled builders were involved in the design and build of structures, homes, and woodwork. And this is perhaps the most important placement of their talents. We refuse to grieve the dying of what’s important. We reach back to timeless building methods, delivering high level craftsmanship, quality, and attention to detail.
Function
Light is an example we like to use in home building, that is often overlooked, to illustrate the importance of respecting function. Natural light is perhaps the most important element of a healthy home. You could live in the most beautifully designed home, but without rightful consideration to the way light enters it, your life energy will be emptied. Melancholy when the day is beckoning your arrival and restless when you should be spent. It’s important that the design and configuration of homes is of nature, and in harmony with it. Mother Nature is tacit in nurturing us. She will not tap us on the shoulder or whisper in our ear. We design homes in tune with her desires, and art. Working with a team of engineers we build homes of character and integrity.
In furniture, a chair for example is only comfortable if it is meticulously designed for its intended use. A dining chair at 103 degrees from the horizon may not be the best chair mated with a computer desk. Careful consideration to how our clients intend to use a piece directs us in the building process so that its function is optimal, and not sacrificed for aesthetics. A comfortable chair is a good chair.
Sustainability
While many beautiful homes surround us, their energy footprint is global and their components, woven with chemicals and building methods not optimal for healthy living, are sourced from all over the globe. It is our belief that the homes we live in should nurture and support us like a dear friend. In the Pacific Northwest we have local access to all of the components and honest materials needed to build environmentally considerate homes and furniture that will be cherished for generations.
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