Prominent local banker now investing in skill with wood

Posted 12/28/15

John W. Barrett, owner of Oreland Wood/Rework Woodworks, 1507 Allen Rd. in Oreland, seen here at a recent Clover Market on Highland Avenue in Chestnut Hill, is a maker of Shaker reproductions and …

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Prominent local banker now investing in skill with wood

Posted
John W. Barrett, owner of Oreland Wood/Rework Woodworks, 1507 Allen Rd. in Oreland, seen here at a recent Clover Market on Highland Avenue in Chestnut Hill, is a maker of Shaker reproductions and custom Shaker furniture, boxes and woodenware. (Photo by Tom Shoener) John W. Barrett, owner of Oreland Wood/Rework Woodworks, 1507 Allen Rd. in Oreland, seen here at a recent Clover Market on Highland Avenue in Chestnut Hill, is a maker of Shaker reproductions and custom Shaker furniture, boxes and woodenware. (Photo by Tom Shoener)

by Alice J. Foley

As I walked through the gate and into the back yard of John Barrett’s woodshop, I was greeted by his large rescue dog, who almost knocked me over. I followed Barrett inside his fairly large wood shop, the Oreland Wood/Rework Woodworks.

Barrett, 66, worked as the plant manager at Mrs. Paul's Kitchens’ Manayunk plant and in Doylestown and New Jersey. He went back to business school at Temple in 1982, graduating summa cum laude in Economics. and went to work for Provident, which then became PNC, and was a vice-president in the corporate lending side of the bank. He was at PNC from 1984 to 1999. The last two years of his banking career, he was a V.P. at Premier Bank in Doylestown, again as a lender.

Premier Bank was bought by Fulton Bank after John retired on disability in November of 2001 due to the neurological damage caused by third stage Lyme Disease. “I guess I have always liked to put things together,” he explained, “whether they're fish sticks, loan packages or furniture. That's the common thread that would seem to tie my rather disparate career choices together.”

Being diagnosed with Lyme Disease forced Barrett to move from the banking world to learning how to use manual and power tools and a newer business he now loves. He described Lyme Disease as a “bug” in your blood stream and has many good days and other days when he is unable to work.

“Over the years I began tinkering, learning to use manual tools and making various different Shaker furniture pieces for my wonderful wife and then friends,” said Barrett. “Others began asking for one or more pieces of distinctive Shaker furniture. I built this woodshop where there was wood from floor to ceiling. Now I am making a small cabinet to hold clothes for a friend’s baby due very soon, rocking chairs for both small children and adults, a lap desk to hold one’s pencils, papers and other school supplies similar to one from the 1800s.”

Barrett showed me the front and back bed frames he is working on for a client. A 100-foot high and 30-foot wide cedar tree fell not far from his home, and Barrett secured another company to cut up the tree. It was cut into different size pieces which he will use for months. He will polish and paint both the front bed frame and small bed frames due shortly after Christmas. On the right side of this woodshop are many tools neatly on the wall. I saw how he adds paint thinner which brings up the true color of the wood.

He pulled out size after size of pieces of wood to be used for the next client project. It was not easy to walk around the woodshop, but I did so to see the future baby’s cabinet and lap desk.

Much of his wood is repurposed or found as well as given to him by another business. “My business began in 2011 and I enjoy what I do,” said Barrett, who will have a booth in April at the Philadelphia Furniture Show at the Armory, 33rd and Market Streets.

The wood shop is also home to Barrett’s cat, who is happy to climb all over as he wishes or find unknown places to hide. The cat seems to enjoy peering out the door to annoy the dog. Barrett then encourages the cat to move elsewhere, which he does.

“My wife, Jan, is fine with my woodshop behind the house as my mistress,” Barrett laughed. He has made the three Adirondack chairs in his yard as well as the other wood chairs on the little patio. The Adirondack chairs even have a pull-out footrest for comfort. “My wife and I and one daughter sit on those chairs in the summer” he said. “They are comfortable but hard to get in and out of.”

Barrett and Jan have been married for just over 22 and a half years and live in Oreland. He has three daughters, 45, 30 and 21 (“obviously, not my first marriage”) — one at home and two married — and three grandchildren. Besides his business projects, Barrett is working secretly on this year’s Christmas present for his wife and was asked to make three candlesticks of various heights for a daughter.

Barrett jokingly said he had made a large jewelry cabinet for his wife since he has purchased so much jewelry over the years, which she loves. He is six foot, three inches tall and had to stoop down several times moving through the wood shop and has shared his Irish sense of humor with a twinkle in his eye.

Oreland Wood/Rework Woodworks is located at 1507 Allen Rd. in Oreland. More information at 267-992-3560 or johnnybwood@mac.com

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