“To do it well” is not exactly an easy thing to define – Many architects, designers, housewrights, and carpenters have sought the answer to this question in vain. Amongst the marketing of new products, the coming and going of various fads, and the ever changing building codes, it is hard to discern what makes a good house. I have spent much time contemplating this question.

I think the answer can often be found in looking to the past. Why do colonial, craftsman, or even victorian houses still appeal to us today? It’s because the best of them, the ones we remember, were designed and built in an intentional way by real craftsmen, with real, genuine materials. They got the details right. Perhaps the houses they made are the product of a better time, made by better people, or perhaps we have merely forgotten some of the things we once knew about building.

As far as I’m concerned, I want to have an honest relationship with the things I build and with the people for whom I build them. I believe that the things I make should be strong and enduring, standing the test of time like those houses of old. They should be square, plumb, and true. I also believe they should be beautiful, as this world around us is beautiful.

If you need a carpenter in the Houlton, ME area and this is a vision you share or are interested in, feel free to reach out.

– Samuel Caron