Featured Artisans
WINDSOR CHAIR CAPTURED MALONE’S CHILDHOOD CURIOSITY
By Gladys Blews Wilson
Jun 11, 2008, 09:32

Kevin Malone grew up in the home of his grandparents where a Windsor chair was often mentioned as a treasured gift their parents gave them. History was a frequent topic of conversation and young Kevin loved to hear the stories of ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. Somehow the Windsor chair seemed symbolic of the family’s pride in their American heritage.

What was so special about that chair, the boy wondered?

He sat in the chair, leaned back on its high, spindled back and tried to make it rock but the chair stood firm. His grandfather noticed his interest and at the drop of hat, he would launch into one family legend after another. Stories often featured bits of advice about the importance of family values that included the unpretentious chair versus “fancy furniture” that wouldn’t go the distance like the good, old-fashioned hand-built Windsor chair.

“Back in the early 80s, I had the chance to take a couple courses from a fellow in the east who repaired Windsor chairs,” Kevin says when asked how he transformed an interest in Windsor chairs into actually building them along with other reproductions of that “good, old-fashioned solidly built furniture that lasts for generations.”

“He showed me how to take those chairs apart and I was amazed to learn that the joints in a Windsor chair are made with no glue. They are made with certain combinations of wood through a process of shrink fitting.”

When he completed the courses, Kevin built some chairs. He used hard maple for the legs, hickory or oak for the spindles and poplar for the seats. At first he cut wood on his own property, 72-acres in Carrollton, Ohio, that included 45 acres of woodland. As he became more serious about building a furniture business, he began to buy logs locally that were cut in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In 1984, after almost ten years with Babcock and Wilcox, he decided to resign and build furniture as a fulltime vocation. Shaker Woods was one of the first places Kevin marketed his beautifully crafted reproductions.

“Sue and Sam, who developed the Shaker Woods Festival, value Colonial period craftsmanship and it was a natural for me. I guess it must be 24-25 years that I’ve set up shop in the middle of the woods.”

This year Kevin will display many kinds of chairs and small tables as well as three styles of rockers and many footstools. You may rest awhile on a wood settee more comfortable than you could imagine without trying it out. His corner cabinets make the most of space that may otherwise be wasted.

“My wife Mary Beth will be with me at the Woods and I’m not sure how many of our four children will be helping out.”

Just as the Windsor chair influenced Kevin’s choice of a career, his children may look back on years helping out at Shaker Woods as a major influence in their lives.

Prices range from $25-35 for shelves to $100 for footstools and $500 for chairs.

Look for the Malones in Booth 108.



© Copyright ShakerWoods.com