Welcome. My name is Nicholas Larkins, and I run a renovation and custom craft business.

If you’re looking for a general idea of what I do, check out the portfolio of past work.

To go deeper into the why and how, check out the project blog.

ABOUT NICK

Nick’s conversion to the building arts began in college with the purchase of a 1976 motorcycle, rebuilding parts at his desk between writing philosophy papers.  The parallels between the intellectual work required to rebuild an old bike and his academic coursework were striking, and he began to write about the interconnection of craft, culture, and human flourishing.  He took a sabbatical to work in a pipe organ shop, and has been in the building trades ever since.  Nick has worked variously as a pipe organ builder, a welder, a motorcycle mechanic, a timber framer, a furniture maker, and a general contractor.  Looking to integrate his background in the liberal arts with the multi-trade skillset he had acquired, he founded True West Craftworks with a vision to combine high-quality craftsmanship, real materials, and time-tested design.  

His educational pursuits are ongoing, and have taken him to Charleston SC, where he studied with the architecture faculty of the American College of the Building Arts, and to Bruges, Belgium, studying traditional architecture and building craft techniques with La Table Ronde De L’Architecture.

PHILOSOPHY

I first encountered the idea that craftsmanship was a culture-shaping force while writing a philosophy thesis. I was captivated by the idea that both the natural and built environment are perfected by the thoughtful application of human work, and that the process might have the reciprocal effect of perfecting the worker via an intimate head-and-hands engagement with reality. After a year of thinking, researching, and writing about the question, I finished my degree a year early and jumped on the first trade job I could find (as a welder).

I have since worked variously as a TIG welder, motorcycle mechanic, general contractor, pipe organ builder, and timber framer. I completed the Mortise & Tenon hand tool apprenticeship program as a Journeyman while supporting myself as home remodeler. My experience has only affirmed and deepened the convictions I started with: a rightly ordered attitude towards work is essential to a healthy built environment, which in turn is essential for a healthy and holistic human life. Meaningful work does have the effect of perfecting both the thing worked and the worker, while work that does not respect human dignity or the natural world does damage to both.

But perhaps that’s a little high-flown. Simply put: it is a delight to build and live with well made things.