Something borrowed, something true

Craftsman Gary Adriance draws inspiration from the past to make furniture to last

Gary Adriance doesn't think of his exquisite wooden designs as furniture -- he considers them bridges.
"Hopefully, it's a connection between the classic American Heritage designs of the past and the heirlooms of tomorrow," he says. "I've borrowed from antiquity, certainly, but it's our own unique signature line."
When he says "our," Gary includes his wife, the former Laurie Carreiro. In tandem, the Dartmouth High School grads (he 1968, she 1972) have taken Adriance Furnituremakers from humble beginnings -- they started in a small barn in the back yard of their Padanaram home in 1981 -- to a company that now boasts a nationwide clientele.

All based on Gary's desire to create "furniture that will last."
"There's so much planned obsolescence with today's disposable products," he explains. "I just wanted to do it right."
And to "do it right" meant studying the classic designs -- and durability -- of pre-Civil War, New England Shaker and colonial masterpieces. It's an interest he's had all his life, even if -- and when -- he wasn't always aware of it on a conscious level.
"My love for antiques, wooden furniture, old tools, all probably inculcated from my grandparents. They always had great respect for the classic tradition."
He first became aware of this latent interest, however, during one summer vacation from UMass Amherst. He watched his dad build a 1790-era Saltbox house -- from scratch -- and search for an "appropriate style of furniture with which to furnish it."
This attention to detail fascinated the young Gary Adriance so much that he resolved to learn as much as he could about the total wood-working experience. He apprenticed during the following summer vacation in Mrs. Andrew King's South Dartmouth wood-working shop. From there it was only a short stretch to copying the colonial furniture patterns he admired, and elaborating, refining and incorporating those with his own designs.
"Furniture made in the 1700s and, in some cases even earlier, still exists," he declares. "I asked myself, why have those pieces lasted this long?"
There was a quality of construction in the furniture, he is convinced, that has been missing since the industrial revolution.
"Eighteen-thirty seems to have been the cut-off date," he maintains. "I wanted my furniture to return to the ideals of aesthetic balance and constructive integrity."
Indeed, upon entering their impressive Adriance Furnituremakers showroom in South Dartmouth, you are overwhelmed by the grace and elegance of a by-gone kinder, gentler age. However, what grabs your attention is its pristine contemporary presentation. Lines of magnificent hand-crafted furniture -- blanket chest here, pencil post bed there, surrounded by tables and chairs polished to perfection -- reside everywhere.
It's the perfect marriage of form and function, and clearly there is much art in Gary Adriance's artisanry.
However, as attractive as these pieces are, it is the craftsmanship that commands respect. Only the finest woods -- cherry, mahogany, maple, oak -- are selected, and each piece is hand-planed and rubbed with natural oil, varnish or antique finishes. Classic hand-sawn dovetail joints strengthen every drawer while time-honored mortise and tenon joints secure each larger piece.
Only then, after all the details have been mastered, is the Adriance signature star-wheel carved on.
"Each item is signed and dated," says Mr. Adriance with an undeniable hint of pride.
Yes, it's been a long, successful road for Gary and Laurie Adriance, but not without potholes.
After his UMass graduation, and a brief teaching stint, Gary had spent four years in the late '70s as a real estate broker "to pay the bills." But his heart was then, as always, in the woodworking business. In 1980, he decided to follow his dream, taking a gamble by leaving the relative security of real estate for a minimum-wage position at the Furman wood-working shop in Fall River. His goal was to serve an apprenticeship for four years "in order to learn from the ground up about machinery. Precision. Discipline."
At the same time he worked on his own, designing and building the furniture he loved.
"We started part time in '81," he says. "I did everything myself out of a barn I built behind our 5 N. Pleasant St. (South Dartmouth) home... our living room was the showroom."
In 1983, he served notice "six months in advance" to the Fall River firm in order to devote all his time to his fledgling business. Laurie, the "financial wizard of our company," left her job at the New Bedford Institution for Savings in 1986, to make the partnership complete.
Over the years, his designs have caught on and the business grown. In 1987, they created a bigger "official showroom" on Elm Street in South Dartmouth; in 1992, the business opened its present Gulf Road combination showroom-workshop.
As Gary and Laurie's family grew -- the couple has two daughters, Nicole, 18, and Alyssa, 16 -- so too has the business' staff.
From working alone to adding one apprentice in 1985 and another in '87, Gary and Laurie now have six full-time and two part-time craftspeople to help realize Gary's classic designs.
With that growth, however, comes a certain amount of frustration for the artisan now trapped inside the businessman.
"I'm trying to grow a company," says the man ever concerned with bridging gaps, "so my time now is better spent designing and letting others do the actual hands-on construction."
"But," he adds wistfully, "I miss it."
It's a bridge Gary Adriance hopes to rebuild one day.