Custom Creations

Matt Hallman returns to his roots to build a custom woodworking business that’s growing beyond his wildest expectations.

Story by Dick Baltus Photos by Thomas Boyd

Growing up in Roseburg and watching his grandfather make furniture for many of his family members and friends, Matt Hallman never imagined he’d wind up following in his footsteps – especially if they led him back to his hometown.

When Hallman graduated from Roseburg High School in 2005 and left the Umpqua Valley for the military, he thought it was for good. Now that he’s back and at the helm of his own woodworking company, he has zero regrets that his life journey wound up coming full circle.

In just a few years, his company, Hallman Woodworks, has grown so busy that anyone wanting one of his custom furniture, sign or other creations had better come packing some patience. Being booked solid a few months out is another thing Hallman never imagined.

“I swore I’d never move back. But once I got a little older I realized this was a pretty great place to raise a family.”   

— Matt Hallman

“I wasn’t expecting this to become what it’s become,” he says.

Hallman’s eye-catching work can be found in homes and businesses throughout Douglas County and beyond, for that matter. Thirty percent of his orders come from out-of-town customers.

Hallman’s first paying furniture job was building the tabletops for My Coffee. It wasn’t the last work he’d do for the Roseburg coffee shop. “A year later, I did them all over again,” he says. “It wasn’t great work, so I replaced them all at my cost.”

His breakthrough moment came after he set up a booth at a 2017 craft show hosted by Backside Brewery. Hallman brought several of his pieces to the show, including what he calls a river table he had built for a local homeowner. The contemporary piece featured a wood top with an epoxy “river” flowing through the middle of it.

It was a striking attention getter that helped jump-start Hallman Woodworking. He’s made several similar tables since, recently filling an order for 12 of them from Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort.

“It’s a pretty popular style right now,” he says.

Trenton Morrow adds the finishing touches to a table.

Matt Hallman with one of the tools of his trade.

Hallman is scheduled to attend three upcoming shows, including two in California, that he expects will find him booked out until July. But most of his business comes from word of mouth.

“It’s a small town,” he says. “Word gets around.”

Word got to Robert Douglas through Hallman’s only employee, Trenton Morrow, who joined Hallman in 2017 as a CNC specialist and lead designer. Douglas, who needed a bar, cabinetry and furniture for the Secret Wine Society wine bar he recently opened in a historic building in Oakland, hired Hallman to bring his vision to life.

“I gave Matt and Trenton a general idea of the look and feel I was shooting for, and they came up with a design,” Douglas says. “The finished bar exceeded my expectations. It's functional, solidly built and looks fantastic. We get a lot of compliments on it. Matt’s work is first rate.

Hallman works primarily with walnut, Myrtlewood and maple, all sourced in Oregon, most locally. “From tree to finished product, my goal is to stay local,” he says.

That certainly wasn’t his goal in 2005 when Hallman left Roseburg to start a 10-year career in the military. He had enjoyed what he described as an idyllic childhood, which included spending significant time at his late grandfather Bob Taylor’s home on Fisher Road. “We’d play in the river, and I’d hang with him in his shop. It was a great way to grow up, and he was a huge influence on me.”

Despite his childhood experience, once Hallman left town he figured he’d only return as a visitor. But in 2014, after he’d left the military, completed EMT and paramedic school and met his wife, here he was, back where he started.

“I swore I’d never move back,” says Hallman, who still works as an EMT. “But once I got a little older I realized this was a pretty great place to raise a family.”

Turns out, it’s a pretty good place to raise a business too.