Hand built in Santa Cruz, California
Heirloom tables, cabinetry, and the art of nature built into function, in claro walnut and salvaged old growth redwood. Commissioned one at a time. Shipped nationwide.
I start by standing a slab on its edge and looking at it until it tells me what it wants to be. Everything I build comes out of that conversation between the wood and the work it’s for.
Thomas Truman, Maker
Reading, milling, and joining Central Coast hardwoods.
Every inquiry gets a personal answer within one business day.
Insured white glove delivery anywhere in the United States.
A fixed number of build slots each year, by the calendar.
Where to Start
A named piece from the Collection, a one of a kind commission for your own room, or a trade relationship for a design practice. Pick the door that matches what you need.
Named pieces and one of one work built around exceptional material. Priced. Ready to order or ready to ship.
Shown: live sycamore and steel coffee table · walnut platform bed
See the Collection
A one of a kind piece built for your room: dining tables, old growth redwood, anything drawn from scratch. The heart of the shop.
Shown: bookmatched walnut dining table · radial round table
Start a commission
Specified millwork, cabinetry, and built ins for interior designers and architects. Trade terms, shop drawings, firm dates.
Shown: walnut and glass sliding door · mahogany drop front desk
See trade termsThe Old Growth Collection
Collection Piece 01 · Available
Coast redwood grows on a narrow band of the California coast and nowhere else on earth. Every piece in this collection is milled from salvaged old growth timber, from trees that stood a thousand years or more before they came down. No new old growth is cut. What exists is what remains.
$14,800
See the whole collectionAvailable Now
Most Trumanmade work is commissioned. A few finished pieces are available at any given time, photographed as they stand in the shop. Each one ships nationwide.
Claro walnut · 60 in round · seats six
Highly figured claro walnut top on a hand shaped pedestal base. Seats six comfortably, eight close. Finished and standing in the shop.
Claro walnut · 84 in table · two benches
Live edge trestle table with two matching benches, built as a set from sequential slabs of the same tree so the grain runs continuously across all three.
The Commission
A commission is a months long relationship. Most makers go quiet between the deposit and the delivery. We do the opposite: you will know where your piece stands at every milestone, without ever having to ask.
Tell us about the piece: the space, the rough dimensions, the wood you are drawn to, the budget range you are working within. The more we know up front, the faster we get to a real design conversation.
A conversation at the shop, at your home, or by phone. We look at the space, talk through proportions and species, and review slabs that could become your piece. Out of state clients do this by video, and it works.
If you are bringing a finished design, we move straight to an estimate. If the piece needs to be drawn and specified from scratch, that begins as a paid design engagement, and the fee applies in full toward the commission.
About the Maker
Every piece of wood tells a story, and the work here starts by listening to it. A slab’s figure, its history, the way light moves across its surface: these decide as much about the final piece as any drawing does.
Twenty years in, that read happens faster than it used to, but the patience it takes has not shortened. From the workshop on Mission Street in Santa Cruz, Tom designs and builds furniture and millwork that balances purpose, quality, and timeless style.
More about the shopQuestions we get
Trumanmade, the workshop of furniture maker Thomas Truman at 2533C Mission Street in Santa Cruz, designs and builds custom furniture, cabinetry, and architectural millwork. The shop works in sustainably sourced Central Coast species including claro walnut, old growth redwood, bay laurel, and white oak, and serves Santa Cruz County, the Monterey Bay area, and the greater San Francisco Bay Area, with collection pieces shipped nationwide.
Yes. Old Growth Collection pieces and available inventory ship anywhere in the United States with insured white glove delivery, and commissions are built for clients across the country. Out of state projects run on video consultations, drawings, and photo updates at every build milestone.
Commissions vary with size, species, and complexity. Most Trumanmade pieces fall between $5,000 and $30,000 or more, with large live edge dining tables and old growth redwood collection pieces at the upper end. Every commission receives a detailed written estimate once the specification is final.
Most commissions run three to six months from deposit to delivery. The bench time itself is rarely the constraint. Waiting for the right slab to surface, and waiting for it to be dry and stable enough to work, is what sets the calendar. Trumanmade takes a limited number of commissions per year for that reason.
Yes. Trade work is a significant part of the shop, including built ins, casework, and one of a kind pieces specified for client projects. Designers get drawings, finish samples, firm lead times, and a single point of contact throughout the build.
Primarily sustainably sourced and salvaged Central Coast lumber: claro walnut (Juglans hindsii), old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), and white oak (Quercus garryana), bought from West Coast mills and salvage yards that the shop monitors weekly.
One next step
Tell us the room, the rough dimensions, and the budget range you are working within. You will hear back within one business day. Or call (917) 415-4946 and talk it through.