About Old Walnut Workshop

In 2025, I moved from a tiny apartment in Los Angeles to a perfect little house in the center of Chagrin Falls. Out back was a single car white garage that was in rough shape. The interior held some old furniture; stacks of congealed paint, gas and weedkiller; and easily a dozen squirrel nests stuffed to the brim with walnuts from the towering black walnut tree just outside. 

After years of living in an apartment, I had been dreaming of creating a workshop of my own to pursue the creative projects that had been building up in my head for years. My ever-supportive wife said that as long as she could pull the car into the garage for snow storms, I could take it over. So I politely evicted the squirrels, dropped the chemicals at the town's toxic waste collection and got to work slowly building workbenches and outfitting the space. 

I've long been fascinated by the almost arcane skills and trades that sit behind the things we take for granted. A wood bowl, a bar of soap, a hand-knit sweater. These traditions have been passed down through generations and take time and dedication to master. Now, with the space to explore, I dove in for myself under the boughs of the ancient walnut tree. 

Old Walnut Workshop is my home for these pursuits. My mainstays are wood turned home goods and cold process soap, but there's always a chance you might see a few knit goods or other woodworking projects pop up from time to time. I'm also using OWW to share some writing and other odds and ends. So come on in and join me under the walnut tree.