Built to Last

Always interested in anything related to history and the arts, Richard Oedel split that focus in college, where he studied historic preservation and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. For many years afterward, he ran manufacturing businesses until a setback led to an epiphany.

Federal Secretary, mahogany, birdseye maple, ebony and holly, with a blue baize writing surface. Oedel, pictured on the opposite page, created this exquisite piece to highlight his own work capabilities some 20 years ago, and he uses it almost daily.

“It was in the late 80s, and we were not having any luck buying additional companies to add product lines,” says Oedel. “There was an older board member who said, ‘Did you ever figure if you’re not a buyer, you ought to be a seller? It’s one of those times when the light bulb turns on. Within a year, I’d changed completely around what I’d been working on in my life and decided to do what I really wanted, which is making things of high intrinsic value.”

After spending a year interning at a furniture maker (“I was the lowest paid guy in the shop and I did a lot of sweeping”), Oedel enrolled in Boston’s North Bennett Street School’s Cabinet & Furniture Making program. “Then I interned under two very good furniture makers, one of them down in Connecticut by the name of John LaGattuta, and the late Jere Osgood up here in New Hampshire,” says Oedel, who eventually opened his own studio in Salem, Massachusetts. “Jere and I got along very, very well, and he introduced me to the New Hampshire Furniture Masters.”

The New Hampshire Furniture Masters, comprising talented artisans from around the region dedicated to crafting high-quality, custom-made furniture, is now celebrating its 30th anniversary. Selected pieces are part of a major exhibition at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester: Joined Together: 30 Years of the Furniture Masters, on display through February 8.

Jewel Case, mahogany, birds-eye maple, cocobolo, 24k gold. Jewelry case for a client in New Hampshire.

“The people at the Currier did a great job of organizing it, and the jury was really quite serious about the pieces that they included,” says Oedel, who was a point person for the exhibit.

I have an appreciation and respect for the custom wood furniture builders of the 17th and 18th centuries.

His piece in the exhibition — a table made from ash and Brazilian rosewood — exemplifies his style and design. “I have an appreciation and respect for the custom wood furniture builders of the 17th and 18th centuries,” he says. “Federal-style furniture is really interesting to me, and how interpretations of that can be made current.”

Now living full-time in Wolfeboro, with his wife, Marie, who is the rare book conservator for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Oedel custom crafts all his work, often utilizing local woods such as maple, oak and birch, as well as materials he has stored for decades.

Flowing Desk, ebonized mahogany, leather and brass desk for a home office.

He explains that the rosewood mentioned above came from another craftsman who was unfortunately allergic to it. “He had purchased a barn in 1954, with the wood in it. I bought the wood from him in the 1990s, and I’m still working with it; it was harvested sometime in the early 20th century,” says Oedel. “I make sure all of the people for whom I make pieces know the story of the wood. It matters to me, and hopefully it matters to them.

“I tend to make things that solve problems for people,” he continues. “Usually, they have a particular design challenge or a specific space problem, and I like solving those.” Acknowledging that many people today, for various reasons, purchase mass-produced furniture that wears out within a couple of years, Oedel remains committed to clients seeking something that will last longer than that. He says his goal is to craft everything with a 200-year lifespan.

Wild Rose, Cornered, rosewood and white ash table, designed to go into a corner by an entry door.

“When I’m finished with it, and I think that it’ll last a couple of hundred years, then I’m satisfied,” he says. “There are still things here that were made in the 1700s. Their design concept is high, and they have been well-made, but they are here because the people who have owned them have cherished them.”

Knowing that his customers value his work as much as he does is gratifying. “I recently spoke with a woman for whom I made a dining table and bench years ago,” he says. “And she told me they’ve been using it every day for 15 years, and they just love sitting down with it every single evening. I’m so glad that I made the decision long ago to create one-of-a-kind pieces that people really appreciate.”

To see more of Oedel’s work, visit finefurnituremaster.com.

Visit the Currier Museum to see Joined Together: 30 years of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, on view through Feb. 8, 2026. currier.org.