Larry & Sherry
A West Texas habit of making things
We built this place because we wanted furniture that would outlast us, and could not find anybody making it. So we started cutting our own.
Larry builds it
Larry is the reason there is a sawmill out back. Logs come onto the property whole, go through the mill, dry in our kilns, and end up as dining suites, poster beds, bar stools and doors. He calls the result the Texas Hill Country look, and it is rough hewn from cedar, mesquite, oak and pecan.
The Star of Texas rocker came out of that shop — a five-point star hand-carved clean through the headrest of a high-back wooden rocker. It has been a mainstay ever since he made the first one, and demand has always run out ahead of supply.
Sherry fills it
The mercantile side is Sherry's. Handcrafted Texas crafts, home décor, one-of-a-kind dining place settings, paintings, wall pieces, candles. The things that make a room feel like somebody lives in it rather than just owns it.
Upstairs, the poster beds and bedroom furniture sit under her arrangement of it all. People come in for a table and leave having furnished a house. It happens more often than you would think.
Why it is built the way it is
We start with the log
Most stores order finished lumber, or finished furniture. We take delivery in log form and control every step after it — which is the only way to actually know what you are selling.
No two are the same
Native Texas hardwoods carry too much character and colour for that. Each piece is its own thing, and we would rather that than uniformity.
We avoid dark stains
Mostly natural oils and clear coats. A dark stain hides the figure that made us choose the board, which rather defeats the purpose.
Built to be inherited
Some of our woodworkers have been in the trade most of their lives. The quality is set by the starting material and every joint after it.
And a whole lot more than a store
Over the years the place grew into Natty Flat — a smokehouse, a bakery, a hat maker, a consignment shop, an event barn, and the World’s Largest Cedar Rocking Chair sitting out front by the fence. Most of it family.
“We can even build it from your own tree.”
A storm-fallen oak, a pecan that meant something to somebody. Bring it and we will mill it.