Stephen Morrison’s journey into timber framing started with a team of draft horses and a portable sawmill and has grown into his company, MoreSun Timber Frames. Introduced to woodworking in high-school woodshop by two inspiring teachers, Stephen went on to work in furniture and cabinetry shops during and after college. After moving to South Carolina, he stumbled upon a man who went into the woods to cut trees, hauled them with a team of horses, milled them on-site, and built timber-frame structures.
“I didn’t even know that was a thing people did,” Stephen recalls, “but the idea of taking a tree from the woods and making it into a finished product for someone’s home blew my mind.” The man offered him some work, and Stephen was quickly hooked. After a few years working for other timber framers, he started MoreSun Custom Woodworking.
Like many small startups, MoreSun initially took on pretty much any woodworking project, but Stephen realized that marketing a broad range of services made it hard for clients to understand the specialized nature of timber framing, which calls for its own tools and techniques. Today, timber framing makes up the bulk of MoreSun’s work, and the company was renamed MoreSun Timber Frames.
“For a handful of years I almost never touched wood, which I think happens to a lot of people who start a small business the way I did. We eventually find ourselves running a business and not actually doing the work we love.”
– Stephen Morrison, MoreSun Timber Frames
As the business grew, Stephen was burning the candle at both ends, handling business chores like marketing and accounting on weekends and evenings while doing hands-on work during the day. Something had to give, so he grew his framing team and focused more on the business.
“For a handful of years I almost never touched wood, which I think happens to a lot of people who start a small business the way I did,” says Stephen. “We eventually find ourselves running a business and not actually doing the work we love.”
Determined to return to the craft, Stephen built a small management team to handle office and design work, freeing him to choose projects he wants to be part of. One new priority is restoration work, which MoreSun is just beginning to pursue. “When we bring new life to buildings that are hundreds of years old so they will last another 300,” Stephen says, “it feels valuable.”
— Jennifer Morris, editorial assistant
Keep Craft Alive is our campaign celebrating those who have chosen to passionately pursue a career in design, building, and remodeling. Find out more and show your support by visiting KeepCraftAlive.org, and use #KeepCraftAlive to share your passion for the cause.
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