KC Woodworkers' Guild

Biography of Benjamin C. Hobbs Over the past twenty-seven years, Ben Hobbs has dedicated his career to the advancement of period furniture making and the preservation of historic architecture. Through saving and restoring old houses, building period pieces and teaching others to do the same, he safeguarded our heritage of craft and artifact for future generations. Ben earned a bachelor’s degree in math from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Upon graduation, he taught math in two different high schools in northeastern North Carolina for a total of ten years. While he had shown an interest in building things his whole life, a house brought Ben into the world of early American furniture. In 1976, he bought a house that was built around 1760 which require complete restoration.
Ben was driven to properly restore the house. While limited in financial resources as a young father on a school teacher’s salary, Ben had boundless energy and eagerness to learn the required skills through reading, museum visits, and networking. As a result, he learned the basics of 18th century carpentry and joinery, as well as the proper ways to restore several rooms with paneled walls. Preparing for a career in furniture making Through the restoration process, Ben recognized the importance of furnishings in an 18th century house and he began collecting antiques that were representative of the period. Economics again drove the learning process. Ben acquired higher quality furniture if repairs were needed; the needed repairs necessitated new knowledge and skills. Pretty soon local antiques dealers recognized Ben’s growing skills and several of them employed Ben to restore their inventory. Greater exposure begat better and better work. Exposure to early furniture laid an invaluable foundation for understanding the work and approach of period furniture makers. To this point, Ben had done a fairly good job of acquiring knowledge on his own, through books, and from acquaintances. With a thirst for more knowledge, in 1978 Ben took a class at a local community college under Wright Horne, who later became master of the Anthony Hay Shop at Colonial Williamsburg. After completed his first “real” piece of furniture – a simple table with a drawer – in that class, Ben continued with another class where they built two chairs. Ben was one of only a few students that were able to complete the project of both Chippendale and Queen Anne Chairs. Mr. Horne’s class gave him the confidence to strike out on his own. Early years as a professional cabinetmaker In 1980, following his passion, Ben left his teaching job in favor of a new career building furniture and restoring historic buildings. His first big break came when a local businessman hired Ben to work for a year restoring his 1810 house in Edenton, NC. The following year, Ben built a home for his brother and completed two sets of chairs for clients. In 1982, that same local businessman decided to open a luxury bed and breakfast inn in Edenton and he commissioned Ben to build most of the beds. Beside the sizeable commission, the beds turned out to be a great source of advertisement. Many people would visit the bed and breakfast, sleep in one of Ben’s beds, and inquire about its maker. As a result, Ben acquired a broad clientele from all over the East Coast and across the county. As the years went by, Ben continued to get better and better at his craft. His success in the field can be attributed the fact that he was very good and exceptionally fast. Ben says “ in order to be successful period furniture maker, you have to be able to build a product that people want and be able to build it efficiently enough that you sell it a price that people can afford and you still make a profit.”
Furniture-making accomplishments Ben has a staggering list of furniture pieces that he has completed over the years: • 400+ beds, typically pencil post • 400+ chairs, principally in the Queen Anne and Chippendale styles • More than 50 chests of drawers • 10 fall front desks • 10 corner Cabinets • 20 clothes presses (a southern form derived from British precedent, but relatively rare in furniture of the northern colonies) • Numerous other assorted period forms including tea tables, sideboards, dining tables, candlestands, one-drawer stands, cellarettes, etc. Ben’s furniture reflects the highest standards of workmanship and correct period styling. He is constantly pushing himself to build more difficult and challenging pieces. For example, he recently reproduced a Charleston double chest (or chest-on-chest) as well as two copies of the well-known “Edenton armchair”, original examples of which are in collections of Colonial Williamsburg and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, respectively. The Charleston double chest was followed up by a class guiding students through the same project. Ben has made furniture for number of public and historic buildings, including courtroom tables for the restored 1847 Camden County, NC Courthouse, several tables and chairs for the Newbold-White House (Hertford, NC), 12 chairs and 6 North Carolina-styled tables for the Chowan County Library (Edenton, NC). Additionally, in the tradition of the cabinetmaker and all-around woodworkers of the colonial period, Ben has made numerous paneled walls with mantels for early houses. Also in this vein, Ben has restored both antique and period houses in his area. Ben has form a solid collection of early eastern North Carolina furniture that serves as prototypes for items reproduced in his cabinetmaking classes. Included in this collection is a very rare Chippendale style armchair made in northeastern North Carolina. Ben has shared two of the pieces of his collection with a wider audience through their publication in John Biven’s important book, “The Furniture of Coastal North Carolina 1700-1820.” Ben’s collection is available not only to his students but, on application, to furniture scholars, collectors, or others having interest in early Southern furniture. Restoration of old houses Ben has contributed to the restoration of many historic sites including Riddick’s Folly in Suffolk, VA. More recently, Ben supervised a group of fellow volunteers who built, to Ben’s design, a reproduction 18^th century smokehouse on the site of the Newbold-White House (Hertford, NC) as part of that historic property’s restoration. (The Newbold-White House, cira 1680-1730, is the oldest house in North Carolina and is open to the public)


Ben says, “As long as an old house has a purpose, it will survive.” Ben has saved from demolition or decay a number of pre-Civil War buildings in the local area. He has rescued and moved to his property sixteen buildings, including several small early outbuildings and others that have become cabins as part of the Beechtree Inn and Restaurant. One of the bed and breakfast units, the Bear Swamp House, is illustrated in Catherine W. Bishir’s monumental book “North Carolina Architecture.” During local house and garden tours given by Ben and his wife, Jackie, visitors can see and learn from these structures. Also, Ben has made virtually all of the reproduction period furniture in these buildings. Regional and national exposure Ben’s work has been featured in a number of regional and national publications that has stimulated interest and advanced the cause of period furniture making. The list includes: • The Virginian Pilot (Norfolk, VA) • The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, NC) • The Chowan Herald (Edenton, NC) • Southern Living magazine • Coast Watch magazine • Fine Woodworking magazine • Woodworkers’ Journal • Our State (NC) magazine • Woodshop News Ben has promoted education about 18th century period cabinetmaking by demonstrating at many craft shows and woodworking events in Hertford, Edenton, and Raleigh, NC, as well as in Norfolk and Waterford, VA. Most recently, in February, 2009, Ben, with his son, Matt, gave a chair-making demonstration at the annual furniture conference sponsored by the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. In March, he gave a two-day demonstration of making a pencil post bed for Wabash Valley Woodworkers Club in Lafayette, Indiana and is scheduled to do the same in Kansas City in March of 2010. [SAPFM PRESENTATION] Furniture Classes In 1996, Ben opened the doors to his shop and shares his knowledge of furniture-making with others. Since then, Ben has taught over 350 students, men and women from all across North America, the fine art of building period reproductions. Over the past thirteen years, students have taken week-long classes focusing on 18th century furniture including tables, chairs, pencil post beds, sideboards, corner cupboards, joint stools, dressing tables, corner chairs etc. He has taught both professional cabinetmakers and aspiring woodworkers. The students have ranged from 17 years old to 92 years old. Many of Ben’s students have taken multiple classes with him. In 2009, for the first time, Ben began to offer advanced classes over a several week period to make the Charleston chest-on-chest noted above and a refined North Carolina corner cupboard. Ben’s Legacy In addition to his tremendous body of work and many students, Ben has raised three sons who each continue Ben’s Legacy. Each is an accomplished cabinetmaker in his our right. Ben’s oldest son, Calvin, has an enthusiasm for Philadelphia carving of the Chippendale period and has completed many beautiful pieces. Calvin recently presently presented at the Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art in Kansas City, MO, promoting the craft of making period furniture. Ben’s middle son Ernie has a particular interest in inlay as applied to federal furniture and built and decorated some fine period pieces. Ben’s youngest son, Matt, is a graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. A Furniture scholar and professional furniture maker, he currently serves on the Board of Advisors at MESDA. As part of his Winterthur study, Matt authored an important thesis on Thomas White, an 18th-century Perquimans County, NC cabinetmaker, showing the commercial link between Quaker communities in eastern North Carolina and Newport, Rhode Island. A number of White’s furniture pieces exhibit what have been traditionally thought of as New England characteristics. Each of Ben’s sons is active in their respective SAPFM chapters in Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina. Ben is deservedly proud of his sons, each of whom is carrying on the tradition of fine period furniture making. Ben has served his community in a number of important ways including serving nine years on the Perquimans County School Board (including three years as chair) and since 1998, serving as a Perquimans County Commissioner (including three years as chair). During his tenure on the School Board, Ben encouraged the teaching of the industrial arts, including woodworking. Ben also served as a volunteer fireman for the Bethel Community Fire Department for 23 years. Currently Ben serves as a trustee of the College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, N.C. All of this continues in the finest tradition of the craftsman as public servant. Summary Perhaps the best way to sum up Ben’s vacation is to note that he is keeping alive not only traditional furniture making but also perpetuating a regional school of cabinetmaking – that of the Albemarle and Chowan River valleys of eastern North Carolina. In the latter regard, it might be well to mention that in the 120 or so years in which American period furniture has received serious study, there has been relatively little study of southern furniture. Similarly, the great collections in northern museums such as the Metropolitan Museum and Winterthur contain almost no southern furniture. This began to change about 40 or 50 years ago with the founding of MESDA, the collection at Colonial Williamsburg and the publication of a still small number of important books. Therefore, the present-day contributions of southern craftsman, like Ben and others are particularly important in bringing to public notice and continuing the heritage of southern furniture. By building period furniture, collecting and restoring pre-Civil War buildings, teaching furniture-making classes, and serving his community, Ben has ensured that his legacy will continued for many generations.