Couples’ business provides outlet for creativity

A little moe than a year ago Bob and Lori Cass opened two businesses under one roof at 100 E. Prairie Ave. Vintage Woodcraft restores antique furniture and Designers specializes in the design and construction of custom cabinetry and furniture. The combined operation is the fulfillment of their desire to engage in an occupation that would not only provide income but would also be an outlet for their creative talents.

Bob, born and raised in Battle Ground, Wash., grew up working with his father in the senior Cass’ woodworking business. After high school, Bob attended Whitworth College and majored in art and business administration, graduating in 1982 with a BA. He spent the next 11 years working in both Spokane and Portland in retail, business management. In 1991 he left that field and returned to woodworking.

By the time he returned to the region where he had spent his college years, he and Lori were married. Both had been married before and found themselves with a blended family of eight children. Lori had six children – one boy and five girls – and Bob had two girls.

“I jumped into a large family,” Bob says. “I became Dad or Daddy to all of them. While they were growing, I would take them fishing and play games with them.” He speaks with fondness and pride of his role as father.

He says he left the business world because he missed woodworking and the creativity it afforded him and both he and Lori enjoy repair, refinishing, and designing and building custom cabinets.

“It’s like helping create a dream.” He remembers restoring an antique chair for a customer. “When I showed the man the finished piece, I saw tears running down his cheeks.”

Bob also regards his customers as his friends.

Their shop brings the couple many challenges. Recently, Bob restored a curved front, four-drawer chest that a woman brought to him. Probably dating to the mid-1850s or a little earlier, the chest showed damage and wear to both structure and finish.

Bob removed the remains of the finish, reglued drawers, replaced missing veneer, and stained and varnished the whole piece to bring it back, as nearly as possible, to its original condition.

When asked about retaining original finishes and condition of antique furniture, Bob advocates moderation. “Some pieces are far too gone to be usable without doing a lot,” he says. “But keep the integrity of the piece. Let it tell its story.”

As an example, he cites a small, side table he worked on. It had been badly burned in one place. He repaired the table and restored the finish but left the scar of the burn. “It was a nice, little table with a burn on it.”

Sometimes furniture with an interesting history comes through the door. One notable project was an occasional table that had been in a bank and was witness to a bank robbery staged by the notorious combo of Bonnie and Clyde.

Work on most projects is shared by Lori and Bob. Both work on finishing and refinishing and upholstery. Artwork is one of Lori’s areas of expertise.

“She is a self-taught artist – a pretty talented lady,” says Bob.

Lori’s ability as an artist has been important in a very recent custom cabinet order. The client wanted a downstairs bathroom done in a birdhouse motif – something with somewhat of a country flavor in style and color. An innovative and fun part of the project is a hidden pet door.

The vanity, with its sink, will go back on a wall that has the furnace room and workshop on the other side. Lori has painted an oversize birdhouse on the side of the vanity. A large hole, large enough to allow passage of a cat, is cut in the center of the birdhouse. In back of the vanity is the pet door that allows the cat access to its litterbox located in the shop/furnace area.

While antiques are their passion, the couple’s focus is more and more on custom cabinetry and the design and construction of custom furniture. They do little or no formal advertising and depend on the quality of their work and word-of-mouth to attract customers.

While the first year in any business location is about becoming established, Bob says their business is growing steadily and he and Lori, working together, are able to do the thing they like best