About S. Timberlake - Shaker Chairmakers since 1974

The Timberlakes started building Shaker chair reproductions in 1974 on Church Street in Bethel, Maine. Sam and Ross Timberlake, father and son, were responsible for building and sales, Sam's wife Natalie was the designated bookkeeper and invaluable doing whatever support work was required, from picking up supplies to delivering finished product to customers. This working arrangement continued till 2002 when Sam built his last piece. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and realized the disease was affecting his work, finding it more difficult to concentrate and remember steps in the construction methods he had done for years. Understandably, his daily presence in the shop is missed, but his many contributions, from jig design to materials management Ross still employs.

S. Timberlake Company was founded as a mail order company and did not have a "formal" showroom until 1979 when space was leased in Portland, Maine's "Old Port District." Despite its ideal location, economic considerations (the second recession of six the company has weathered) led to its closing. Mail orders were steadily growing, though slowly, so maintaining a showroom made little sense during the economic downturn of the early eighties.

Meanwhile in Bethel, Sam had been designing and building a line of production pine primitive furniture for Stanley Cornwall Traditions, which would later take his designs and produce them in their own plant. This led to the layoff of dedicated employees in the pine production shop, a return to working with only his son and wife, and a renewed commitment to hardwood Shaker furniture and an expanded line of tables, desks, and chairs.

Today, the furniture is still built in Bethel, though no longer in the Church Street barn. The workshops are located now on a stretch of highway that travelers will pass if they are following route 2 (from Bar Harbor - Bangor to the east, Vermont from the west), route 26 from Portland, Maine to Canada, or Route 5 from the North Conway, New Hampshire area. Ross and Carole Timberlake welcome visitors to their small showroom located at one end of their new workshop at Timberlake's Home Store. Ross frequently affords visitors a tour of the workshop, describing works in progress. To this day, the furniture is still individually handmade by the Timberlakes, one piece at a time.

The Timberlake's catalog of Shaker furniture is now available online at www.stimberlake.com and www.shakerchairmakers.com, a site dedicated to the Shaker chair.