Our people make the difference

Born in Atlanta to a family of (mostly) very loud and loving Italians, Rocco has been a white water rafting guide, pizza-slinger, sous chef, soccer player and coach. After serving eight years on the board of MV Youth Soccer, Rocco now coaches the MVRHS Girls’ Varsity team. As a member of the Timber Framer’s Guild, Rocco has built timber frame churches, barns and houses around the country. His hobbies include hunting and tracking deer, with his son Gabriel and cooking and serving venison, with his daughter Madia.

Eric worked as a millworker, graphic designer, and Brazilian Ju Jitsu instructor before answering South Mountain’s call for a carpenter in 2022. A lover of craft, natural materials, and lifelong learning, he is grateful to have found a community that shares his values and vision.

When not at work, you can find Eric painting, sculpting wood or enjoying nature alongside wife Allison, and cats Rumble and Griff.

“Married late middle age carpenter seeks ongoing relationship with chiropractor holding Red Sox season tickets, first 20 rows, right field roof deck or green monster. Must have functioning liver.” That’s what he says. We say he juggles more jobs than you can shake a stick at, takes on the tough ones, and keeps all our many Service & Renovation clients (and their houses) happy. He lives down the road with wife Margaret and three kids and boy does he miss them when they’re gone.

Born and raised on a cattle farm in Brazil, Jean migrated to Connecticut in 1996. When we met him, he was working for a roofer on one of our jobsites. A hard worker and a fine carpenter, he joined SMCo in 2007 and quickly became a stalwart of our field crew. On weekends, you can find him riding broncs on the rodeo circuit. He loves it when he stays on for the full eight seconds. That doesn’t always happen, but Jean always looks on the bright side, even when he’s eating dust!

Nic grew up in coastal Massachusetts, spending most of his time skating in hockey rinks and on ponds. He came to Martha’s Vineyard in 2000 to work on the carpentry crew building his parent’s house. From there, he traveled around for a string of apprenticeships: restoring log cabins in Colorado, touring France with the Compagnons du Devoir, and stair-building in Seattle. On a visit to the island one summer, he met the girl who would eventually become his wife. The two settled in Rhode Island and New Jersey (where Nic set up a small furniture shop), before deciding to raise their children in the place they’d first met. When he’s not at the SMCo bench, you can find Nic at home turning bowls and carving spoons - or laughing/dancing/snuggling with his little family.

Curtis was raised on a farm in rural Connecticut. After college in New Haven, he served one year in the Army and five in the National Guard before moving to Boston to pursue a career in architecture. Somewhere along the way, Curtis realized his interest lay more in making than designing. He came to the SMCo in 2003 as a carpenter, though we soon found out he was capable of almost anything is to do with tools, wood, and broken houses. When Curtis isn’t making himself invaluable to our Service & Renovation team, he and wife Heidi, produce MV Sea Salt from their homestead just down the road.

Sebastian moved to the Island from Durham, NC on the eve of the pandemic. For three years prior, he worked as a carpenter restoring Victorian-style homes in the city’s downtown. His interest in building houses derives from a passion for making sustainability and craft accessible to everyone. Prior to working in construction, Sebastian fought for similar access to sustainable agriculture, serving as a FoodCorps Fellow in the NC public school system, a Supply Chain Fellow with The Center for Environmental Farming Systems at NC State, and a Food System Finance Fellow at Self-Help Credit Union. Sebastian is grateful for the South Mountain team and its vision. On the days when he’s not supporting our affordable housing and institutional construction efforts, Sebastian can be found making mischief with his sweetheart Indaia, daughters Louisa, Florence and Josephine.

Newell grew up immersed in nature, working on timber frames and organic farms and roaming the hemlock and hardwood forests, swamps, and ledges of Hardwick, Massachusetts. Twelve years as a student, planner, and fundraiser at Earlham College, in Richmond, Indiana, steeped him in corn fields, midwestern niceness, Quakerism, and collaborative leadership. A four year turn at the helm of the family timber business back in Hardwick taught him about sales, residential construction, and leading in hard times. Now, Newell coordinates construction for South Mountain and serves on our Leadership Team, always aiming to deepen the soul, improve the economy, and increase the ecological integrity of our shared work. He spends his free time playing with wife Jennie and son Jasper, working with neighbors in Island Cohousing, and eating food grown, gathered, and caught as close to the kitchen as possible.

Sail boats (specifically the Shenandoah) brought Jon to the Vineyard in 1977 at the age of 19 - just as he was embarking on a quest to see the world by sail. Whilst waiting for a berth to open up, Steve Sinnett brought him round an SMCo jobsite. We valued his talent. Over the next 20-30 years, Jon worked full time as professional mariner. We wouldn't see him for ages, then, in his words “I would show my ugly face looking for work when I found myself stuck on the beach.” When Jon decided to quit shipping, he came back to SMCo for good, bringing a full complement of skills with him.

Primo grew up here on Martha's Vineyard. Working for SMCo in the 90s was his first ‘real’ carpentry job. It didn't work out according to plan that first time, but as life happens, after years of travel, he found himself back on our crew in 2015. This time, we feel sure he’s here to stay.

When Primo’s not onsite, he enjoys volunteering, being a father to his boys, a coach, a friend, and staying grateful for all that life has to offer.

Peggy began working for SMCo as a carpenter in 1987, just out of college. She moved from job site to shop for a stint of building doors and cabinets, and then moved into the office where she continues to provide product support and serve as project manager of our Service & Renovation team. When she is away from this Island, Peggy spends time on a much smaller island off the coast of Maine.

Jake grew up romping around Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. His love for building started with treehouses and forts. His parents’ rule: “You can fell any tree thinner than your forearm for source material.”

As a young adult, Jake’s interests veered away from woodwork and toward theatre, music, outdoor education, craft beer, and farming. It wasn’t until 2018, when he built a reclaimed timber frame cabin, that the spark reignited. Jake found a mentor and spent the following years logging, milling, notching, and raising… until his wife Fiona’s yearning for her home island grew too strong to ignore.

Jake, Fiona, and daughter Penny & Twyla relocated to West Tisbury in the summer of 2022. Soon after, daughter Twyla was born. The young family is thrilled to be joining the island community, and we’re thrilled to have Jake’s talent on board at South Mountain. Look for his imprint on the next generation of work!

Born and raised in Denmark, Ane earned her cabinetmakers degree from Copenhagen Technical College in 2016. Shortly following graduation, she came to SMCo for a winter internship. In the six months that followed, we fell in love with her creativity and skill, and she fell in love with one of our Trade Partners! Between 2017-2021, Ane and fiancé Nick patiently navigated the United Stated Immigration System while she worked in a shop back home. When the pandemic receded, Ane booked a one-way ticket to MVY and reclaimed her old bench. Look for her modern, Nordic imprint on our next-generation furniture and cabinetry. If not there, you'll find her SUPing or in the Misty Meadow stables.

As a young child, Greg enjoyed exploring the woods on his Huckleberry Hound, while wearing a box on his head. He went on to study forestry, working in construction during the summers. After crabbing on a boat out of Kodiak Alaska (for a captain who became a lifelong role model), he returned home to Connecticut, cleared trees for building sites, worked as an assistant to the Westchester county forester, and broke his foot on the job. While in a walking cast, he met a fine cabinet maker. After 12 years working for that cabinet maker, he discovered SMCo through an article on in Fine Homebuilding, and moved with his family to Martha’s Vineyard. He now lives in Falmouth with his wife and daughter, and commutes on the newspaper boat across Vineyard Sound to our shop. He builds boxes but no longer wears them and the rolling rider has been replaced by a plug-in Kia. He has a serious addiction to perfection.

Ryan is originally from the West Coast: Berkeley, CA and Seattle, WA. After college, Ryan moved to Montana to help his father build log homes. After bumping around several jobs, Ryan found himself "production framing" in Montana and spent his free time hunting, fishing, and snowboarding. When the chance came to reunite with family on Martha's Vineyard and escape the long, cold Montana winters, Ryan jumped at the opportunity to head East. Ryan arrived on the island in December of 2016 and found work with South Mountain three weeks later. Summer came and he traded his parka and snow boots for board shorts and flip flops. He has no plans of looking back.

Chris moved to the island mid-pandemic with his then-fiancé Courtney and their mischievous mutt Wylie. Soon after, daughter Natalie arrived!

Born and raised in Western Connecticut, he spent summers helping out on jobsites before working as a finish carpenter throughout southern Connecticut, New York City, and most recently, owning and operating a cabinet/furniture shop in Dallas. Chris joins the South Mountain team with a particular enthusiasm for high-performance, socially-aware work.
A self-proclaimed “maker”, he is interested in a multitude of hands-on outlets for creativity and creation. When not on the job, you’ll find Chris biking, playing guitar, or scrolling craigslist for the next tool he didn't know he needed.

Originally from upstate New York, Chris' early love of the outdoors led him to study Forestry and Biology at SUNY ESF. Combining his desire to create and his knowledge of trees led him to the craft of timber framing. For ten years, he worked with multiple timber frame companies, to broaden his understanding and hone his skills before returning to the Finger Lakes to work with a small building company run by fellow ESF Alumni. Together, they built small residential homes that employed better building practices with an emphasis on energy efficiency and quality woodworking. An opportunity to dismantle an old barn, repair it, and reconstruct it into a brew pub, became a catalyst for the creation of Revival Timberworks. Chris founded and operated this small business for three years before answering our "call for carpenters" in 2013. As a South Mountain Project Lead, Chris values the opportunity to contribute, in meaningful ways, to a community that shares his love of craft, his desire to always do better and his respect for the natural world and all who inhabit it.

Rachel was born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard, and after MVRHS, earned a degree in Fashion Merchandising from Fisher College. She loved Boston, but the call of the island was too great to resist. Once back on the rock, it was clear fashion merchandizing wasn't going to take her everywhere she wanted to go, so she turned to the construction trades. Rachel and her three year old son Tatum live in Vineyard Haven in a modular home of her own making. They are both active at Vineyard Montessori, where he focusses on large motor, small motor, and cognitive development, and she volunteers on the fund development and Truckin' MV committees.