Feature on David Marshall in the C-ville Abode

by Caite White
photo by Christian Hommel

Stair master: David Marshall brings the old country to new construction

There are two ways to explain how David Marshall got into the carpentry business—the short answer (“I worked on building sites for many years as a carpenter until my last boss (in 1994) recommended I go into business for myself,” Marshall said) and the long answer, which is a bit more complicated. A native of England, Marshall learned old-fashioned carpentry in school and loved it. His teacher was “strict and exacting,” but passed on a passion for the craft of woodworking without the aid of portable power tools.

“Boards were planed by hand, joints including dovetails were cut with hand saws and tweaked to precision with chisels,” Marshall said. “Good joinery required careful planning, the ability to visualize the end product, and, most of all, brought out the beauty of the wood itself.”

Marshall and his family (his American wife and four young children) moved to Iowa and he started working on building sites when the farming economy tanked. After four years at that, they moved again—this time to Charlottesville. Marshall worked for McRaven Restorations, Shelter Associates, and Blue Mountain Builders, gaining experience in the trade before opening Albion Cabinets and Stairs in 1994. He hasn’t looked back. As Marshall put it, “There’s not much finer than the feel of smooth wood.”…

As featured in Abode – read the full story here >