Charleston, West Virginia
Custom-crafted doors and furniture. Made in the heart of the Appalachians.
Our story
Born and raised in New Zealand, Aaron Saxton moved to the USA in 2010 to live with his future wife, Maria, a West Virginia native. She introduced him to Mid-Century Modern furniture and design which quickly became an all consuming passion. He became an avid collector and eventually they opened a store selling restored mid century modern furniture and art.
Aaron learned how to restore and refinish the furniture. He met a group of renowned local cabinet makers and master carpenters who shared their time, knowledge and amazing workshop space with him and since 2013, he has been refining techniques for his signature work, the radial pattern. Radial by and in itself is not a technique that requires years of training, however much like how any wood could be used for intricate designs or patterns, he noted something was amiss with the offerings being made by others.
It came down to how many pieces were being used, the geometry deployed and how the wood was cut in the process that was leading to mediocre results. The results of his signature technique imparts a unique appearance where geometry and alignment of the pieces results in a flowing pattern with similar but not identical segments. The material and time intensive process results in the elimination of "quadrants" that draw the eye to where the wood meet, rather than the entire amalgamation. The radial technique is attractive providing a sum that is greater than it's parts.
After a decade of building custom crafted wood doors and fifteen years of restoring fine furniture from some of the world's best designers he decided to start designing and building custom furniture. In his work Aaron discovered a good design can only be let down by poor production and quality. He had carefully studied the construction techniques and materials used by the best furniture makers differed vastly from the lesser names and companies. Good design must go bone deep and quality can never be sacrificed.
Living in Appalachia and learning from local master craftsman Aaron became captivated with the heartwoods of the USA and in particular Black Walnut. He had observed how techniques for furniture production were abandoned in lieu of mass production techniques and the quality, longevity and feel suffered for it. Aaron produces special radial walnut pattern doors and furniture via a technique he developed himself over five years and could never be duplicated in mass production and can do so in many wood species.
History Never Repeats has clients nationwide and abroad. We are currently restoring our home which is a Usonian house by architect Howard Johe. Aaron is also an avid orchid grower and is one of the few people to get a ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) to bloom outside of its native habitat.
What we build
Modernist Entrance Doors - all Custom to your specifications
We design and build custom higher end doors for new builds and for retrofitting to an existing home. Each door is entirely hand-crafted by Aaron Saxton start to finish at his workshop in Charleston, WV.
The Emergence Collection
We hand-craft pieces by hand based on our unique technique utilized in production of radial patterns seen nowhere else.
Starburst kits for Interior and Exterior Doors
Starburst kits for Interior and Exterior Doors
A kit produced from either solid brass or stainless steel (or custom color) for new flush doors or vintage doors. Learn More
Visit our 1stdibs store
Restored and Original Items
Our shop on 1stdibs includes all pieces for sale, new and vintage, located at our workshop in South Charleston WV. Contact us directly questions on what interests you.
Click the image or visit https://www.1stdibs.com/dealers/history-never-repeats-llc/