References & Testimonials

Thanks so much for the maintenance kit. I have already used it and the table looks even more beautiful than before, if that is possible. I still stroke that gorgeous piece of furniture every day and say blessings for its arrival in the life of the Poe family. I certainly hope that my grandchildren, when they inherit it, will know its origins. I will make certain that their mother does.

Thank you so much for the beautifully crafted mirror. It is GORGEOUS!!! We couldn’t be any happier with it. Hopefully, it will be a treasured possession in our family for generations to come.

Good morning, Bob – We hope that this finds you well.
We just wanted you to know how much we still are loving our table(s) and chairs. We recently had two different groups of 9 and 11 for dinner, so put in the second table leaf. The table was perfect. And the leaves are made so well that they are a marvel to take in and out. We use the chairs daily – for sitting in various places. They are so comfortable that we move them around the house to sit in. And the little tables really are pieces of art. Just wanted you to know how much we enjoy your beautiful work daily!

Hi Bob:
The table arrived in perfect condition and it is beautiful! Everybody who passes by it gives it a little caress. It’s almost alive and is crying to be caressed for it is smooth and delicate like a baby’s skin.

Hello Bob:
Roy just delivered the chest of drawers. It is beautiful!!! I have to wait till the morning to be able to see its full beauty, but even at night it looks great and the wood is just so lovely! The heart came out perfectly and you are absolutely correct. the back is stunning. I might have to find a room where it can stand freely to be admired from the front AND the back!

Dear Bob,
Thank you for the lovely card you sent recently. I do miss autumn on the east coast. We are enjoying the table. I even love the way it smells!

Hi Bob,
We LOVE our table. It is absolutely perfect in the space we had planned next to the swivel chair. The proportions are excellent, and, of course, the workmanship is exquisite. Thank you so much. Happy Spring.

So I got my table yesterday!! I love it and it fits the space perfectly! I am so happy I listened to you about going for the extra couple of inches width wise- it makes such a great difference and it does not make the room feel smaller at all! Just like you said! The delivery guy is a doll and he did a great job. I am so excited sitting here- perched at my lovely table sipping coffee and emailing. Just loving it. Big hugs,

Hello Bob,
The jewelry box came just in time for my birthday. I cannot tell you how much I love it! Thank you for a beautiful place to keepsake my jewelry and for a beautiful piece of art. I will enjoy it forever. Best regards,

Bob –
You made the bench too nice! We put it in the entry of our house and it is just lost there. It could be any wooden bench, you sit on it, take boots off and head upstairs. We were both feeling like we had not made a good decision. Karen said bring it up and put it in our sitting area off the kitchen, where we spend most of our time as a bench so we can at least admire it for a bit. I then moved it in front of the couch and it just came alive when you sat down. It kept drawing my hands to touch it, all the wood grain and details in a brightly lit room are spectacular! Thanks so much for your efforts and resulting very special piece of wood.

Dear Bob:
I just can’t thank you enough for making this beautiful table, for hearing this incredible piece of wood and what it said to you—I’m awe-struck by your work. I was going to say it makes everything around it pale, but in fact, it actually warms it all up and brings it all together in this nice, homey, warm way. I love it!

Bob,
Love, love, love our table! The 42 inch width works perfectly in our dining area. We could not be happier with the proportion. The passion and patience you exhibited for our project made this a memorable experience for us. Can’t wait for the next one.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM A HAPPY COUPLE!!!!

The desk is an unqualified hit. Sarah loves it, and as soon as it came home from its hiding place yesterday, we set about emptying her old one and moving it into the cellar to make room for the new desk. A few months ago, a friend of ours from Brattleboro who makes classical icons in the Russian Orthodox manner brought one to our house for a couple of days. It was hard to stop gazing at it, so powerful was its impact and such a statement did it make. The desk has a similar effect: it’s just not possible to walk through the living room and not be arrested by its elegance and beauty. Thank you for making such a lovely piece. It was good to meet you a couple of weeks ago. Sorry to have missed Cheryl.

Hi Bob:
We love the table! It’s absolutely gorgeous and the wood is stunning! The delivery had a few glitches, but that is pretty typical in England. The table arrived in perfect condition.. As soon as we’re finished with the kitchen, I will send you a picture of the table in place. Also, I think we’re going to get around to ordering a new kitchen table for the Maine house this year, so we’ll be in touch.

Hi Bob:
I just had to let you know that the jewelry box you made for Alena is amazing!! It is absolutely beautiful and is exactly what we were looking for to celebrate her graduation. It will surely become a family heirloom! We appreciate the care you took and your thoughtfulness to mention the details on the bottom of the box. It really is perfect; we couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much!

Hi Bob:
Can you send me a few photos of the cherry rocker? I was hoping that you would have one available as Jessica is once again pregnant with another little boy due in August. I want to be able to give each of them one of your rockers when they are older but in the mean time Jess and I will have a couple of decades to enjoy them in our house. You truly do beautiful work.

Bob,
We absolutely love the furniture! We’ll definitely keep you in mind when we are in the market for new furniture.

Hello Bob:
One of the fondest recent memories I have is the weekend my then finance took off to visit you and your shop. The image of your barn with the wood downstairs, the great workspace in the middle, and all the great things you made on the third floor is stuck in my memory. Sheer jealousy. I could use a few hours of sipping wine and sitting in the midst of some great lumber.

As I’m sure you expect, the tables and chairs far exceeded our expectations. The furniture gets a lot of use. Here’s why. since you dropped of the furniture Diane and I have done “the best work of our lives” and had two healthy, wonderful, young boys. They are now four and two.

Being at work all day I miss breakfast and lunch but I know Diane and the boys eat their meals at the table each day. And we sit at that table every night as a family and eat dinner. On top of it we have shared many special occasions with our families by putting both extensions on the big table and butting up the small table at one of the ends. Plenty of room. Just as we planned!

The furniture is holding up great. As you might expect with two young boys, the furniture is starting to record our family history. The first records being small indents on the edge, not visible to the eye, only to the touch of an anal person such as myself, where the boys’ wooden high chairs occasionally bumped it. Other than that our tables and chairs look as good as the day you dropped them off. So, we love our furniture! We still think about that bedroom furniture, but right now it’s all about the boys.

There are a lot of decisions to be made when building a new house. Having you build the table we eat dinner at as a family every night was one of the smartest decisions we made.

Dear Bob & Cheryl,
The shelf arrived this morning and it is so beautiful! Thank you so much for choosing and treating this piece of nature with such love and care. It warms up our room and immediately assumes its place, becoming a strong and integral part of our everyday lives. This is a type of nature you just cannot come by in our part of the world. We feel so privileged.

Besides just watching it, touching and smelling the wood is an extraordinary experience; you just can’t stop when coming close.

Dear Bob,
We are thrilled with the chest of drawers you made for us. Your craftsmanship and the care you took in selecting and matching the wood has created a beautiful heirloom piece. We are very happy with the Great Lakes salvaged wood. The hard and fine-grained birch and maple really glows. We appreciate your enthusiasm for the project and hope we can commission another piece of furniture, using the sunken wood, from you in the future.

Dear Bob,
We just love, love, love the bed. Claude keeps joke-grumbling that it’s ‘broken’ because it’s too cozy, nice, and comfortable to get out of in the morning! Working with you in choosing the design of our canopy bed was a joy! You understood our design concepts and how to translate them into a lovely piece of furniture. It’s actually more of a work of art to us than just ‘furniture” the result surpassed our expectations and we are very happy with our new bed! We’re now saving pennies to order a trestle dining room table from you at some point in the future.

Dear Bob,
This is a very delayed thank you to say that James and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the bed!!!!! Indeed, it is our single most treasured possession and I think it always will be. I find myself touching it as I go by. I love the silky feel of the wood and its such wonderful colors. It’s exactly what we wanted. Again, thank you so much.

Dear Bob
What a great table! Perfect! I just got home from England last night and there it was standing right in my dining area as if it had always belonged there! It is so light looking, but quite steady and solid, and I know I’ll love using it for a long, long time! I’m glad I got the 12″ leaves – they are easy to handle and store. This table really maxes spaces with minimal disruption – very well designed! Really, it is lovely and I thank you so much for your fine work!

Two months later:

Dear Bob –
Last night for the second time in a few weeks I had about 25 people for dinner. That big table is FABULOUS! Even at its full extension with a dozen people around it, it was fine. Those legs don’t get in the way at all, and yet it is so steady (and I seem to wind up with a lot of table pounders here whose philosophy seems to be that anything worth saying should be said to the accompaniment of a fist on the table!). The leaves are so easy to handle and don’t take up too much storage space. All in all, it’s such a nice combination of easy to handle, light looking, but rock solid! The only other kind of table I know where the legs aren’t a problem are pedestals, and so may of them rock – especially in this building where the floors aren’t so even. This is such a nice combination of stability without mass! I really appreciate it! Thanks so much!

Dear Robert,
Your bed fits perfectly in our new home. It survived its cross country trip perfectly. It is also very comfortable. Thank you again for your excellent work.

Bob,
I just received your wonderful serving board. Like the rest of your work, it is beautiful. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the furniture you made for me. Not a day goes by that I don’t admire it. Thank you and happy New Year.

Dear Bob,
Just a short note to thank you for the wonderful job you did on my “birthday” chest of drawers. Your craftsmanship now lights up our dining room and bedroom.

Bob,
I still can’t get over how beautiful the desk is. I find the wood and the construction endlessly fascinating to look at and the finish on it is smooth and soft. These are great distractions from work. Thanks.

Bob,
In addition to your magnificent artistry, both you and your lovely wife, Cheryl, are a pleasure to do business with.

Mr. Gasperetti,
We love our mirror! Fabulous job – it matches our furniture beautifully. The craftsmanship is excellent and the finish perfectly smooth. It arrived in perfect condition and the delivery people were courteous and careful. Thank you for your attention to detail in the selection of wood – it makes a huge difference that we appreciate. We will think of you the next time we need a custom piece and recommend you to friends.

Dear Bob,
A short note to tell you how pleased we are with the table you made for us. The undulations within the wood find a changing harmony as the light changes throughout the day. It is truly an addition that graces our home.

Dear Bob,
We continue to live “happily ever after” with your pieces and always receive many compliments on them. We had a photographer do some shots of the apartment. Your furniture turned out so well (very photogenic) that I thought you would like to have copies for your portfolio.

Dear Bob,
We are enjoying your beautiful writing table and want to thank you for your talents and craftsmanship. We will enjoy it as a piece of art as well as functional furniture. Next year, we’ll discuss a chair. Thanks ever so much for your beautiful work.

Dear Bob,
The bed arrived and with the movers’ expert help is now a reality. Congratulations on the superb workmanship. We’re delighted to have the bed as a key feature of our house. It is well worth the wait.

Dear Bob,
Thank you for doing such a nice job on the bed! We love it! What an heirloom piece! We are already saving up for our next piece of furniture.

Dear Bob,
“Roger’s Chest” is spectacular! Couldn’t be more pleased.

Hi Bob,
I just got home from work and wanted to let you know that I think the desk and table look GREAT! You and your crew really brought the best out of that wood and really fulfilled our expectations. We will enjoy them for many years!

Bob,
We were in your showroom last week while traveling in Vermont. As I told your wife, as an amateur woodworker I am always looking at others artist’s work. Rarely do I find a crafts-person that I will go out of my way to visit or praise. I was blown away by your attention to detail and perfection. I am particularly impressed with your joinery and attention to wood movement. Your style expresses the wood and joinery rather than the ornate which tries to hide poor workmanship.

Dear Tom,
I have a friend, Bob Gasperetti, who does a lot of work in tiger maple. He had an exhibit recently at Frog Hollow in Burlington featuring furniture made in it. It was very impressive-tight pattern tiger maple. I recommend him highly as one of the best furniture makers in Vermont.