2018 was Jake's first year at Vermont Woods Studios, but you wouldn't know it based on how many different roles he fills on a daily basis. In addition to keeping everyone warm in the winter and making sure Stonehurst looks her best, Jake also heads our delivery and furniture transport team.
Now, he's #VWSGreenTeam featured.
Q&A with Jake Checani
When did you start at Vermont Woods Studios and what brought you here?
I started on April 30, 2018. Stress, most likely, brought on by a career as a miscellaneous metals estimator. I was a little more embroiled on the rat race track then I was comfortable with. Being outside more on this beautiful property dubbed Stonehurst was for sure a major plus, as well as the opportunity to drive around scenic Vermont as I do most weeks as the main driver here.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
If I am delivering furniture or performing a vendor pick-up it’s a little more predictable. In those instances, a morsel of my day is moving furniture, while the bulk of the time is spent behind the wheel. At Stonehurst it’s a bit more spontaneous, though it’s usually outdoor work. I could be girdling trees and splitting wood for our outdoor furnace in the fall, maintaining the grounds and keeping an eye on our annual flower gardens in summer, or up before the sun to clear snow from the driveway and walkways. In other words, seasonally dependent and as varied as our mixed hardwood forests!
What’s your favorite Vermont brand (other than Vermont Woods Studios)?
I’ve had a Johnson Woolen Mills coat I plucked out of my grandfather's closet when I was a freshman in high school, so I’ve always been fond of them.
You’re furnishing your dream house. What’s in it?
Our American Shaker Panel Bed
2 candlepin bowling lanes. Top of the line stereo equipment: cassette, turntable and cd. A fine array of our finest beds -- American shaker panel and Sarah Sleigh, to name a few -- for all my friends and loved ones.
You’re dumping your old dining set. What’s next? Why?
I’m currently rocking a garage sale special. A functional trestle table and some old schoolhouse chairs for $100. Not bad – again, functional furniture -- but squeaky and very ditch-able (also should have haggled a bit more on the price) so I am not objecting to one of our reclaimed barnwood tables and a set of Country Windsor Chairs. Again, ample room for friends and family!
Pick one bed to sleep on for the rest of your life.
“Make me down a pallet on your floor”
What are you jamming out to?
New Orleans Radiators album Law of the Fish. Lots of Clifton Chenier. Really appreciate the album No Hurry by Scott Nygaard.
What’s one book you’d recommend everyone should read?
Last Places by Lawrence Millman
Who’s your favorite superhero?
Mom
What’s your spirit animal?
“Trash Squirrel,” my friends say, considering my affinity for dumpster diving and other hobbies of reclamation.
