Jeannie Matteucci<\/p>\n
Master craftsman Thomas Moser’s love for wood and making furniture dates back more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
“It started as a hobby during graduate school, when I worked on the back porch and my wife did the refinishing,” he says. “Both of us were always interested in Early American design and antique furniture.”<\/p>\n
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His interest was so strong, Moser eventually left his job as a college professor to start his own furniture company in 1972. The small Maine-based family business has grown over the years and now has 135 employees – 65 of those handcrafting furniture full time, using sustainable practices and materials – with eight showrooms across the country, including one in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Moser devotees appreciate the craftsmanship and simplicity of his wood chairs, beds and dining tables, which Moser describes as “not really contemporary or traditional. The design is very clean and the wood is treated in a very natural way. Our work is designed to be useful and passed on to the next generation.”<\/p>\n
Bay Area furniture lovers have a chance to meet Moser when he visits his San Francisco showroom for an open house and design talk from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. After the talk, Moser will sign copies of his book, “Artistry in Wood” (Chronicle Books; $60).<\/p>\n
“The book is as much a history of our company than anything else,” he says. “It’s a coffee table book with beautiful photos that show our furniture and how it’s used.”<\/p>\n
Moser, who spent time in the Bay Area when he was in the Air Force, says the decision to open a showroom in San Francisco in 1992 was not very hard.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a very supportive community for us,” he says. “There’s a reverence for the past and a sophistication in Northern California that doesn’t exist in too many places.”<\/p>\n