Yesterday

Upton Oaks was founded in 1990 by Dave Monahan, a carpenter living in semi rural Marlborough NZ. A young man at the time, married to Sue and two young daughters Laura and Ella.

As if the mammoth task ahead of restoring their 1911 Victorian Villa and Garden from rack n ruin wasn’t enough, Dave saw that there was an opportunity to fulfill a long time ambition to become a furniture maker, specializing in hand crafted Country Furniture. It was near the start of the “Country style” revolution taking over New Zealand and the World. People were seeking those special pieces seen only in those glossy “Country Style” magazines. Sea chests, Garden Wheelbarrows, Park Bench’s, Coffee tables, Hanging Corner cabinets and Dining tables were the main events of the day. Many a long day was spent fulfilling customer orders, restoring the Villa and spending valuable time with the family. A schedule that eventually lead to the employment of a staff member to help relieve the pressure. Well the pressure kept coming and the staff kept growing! The rest is history!

Today

Upton Oaks, a small New Zealand owned and operated company with a client base stretching the length and breadth of the country and even a few around the globe.

Twenty years on Dave and Sue manage what has become one of New Zealand’s leading Handcrafted Furniture makers. Still operating from the site of the country villa on the outskirts of Blenheim, Upton Oaks furniture can now be found in selected “up market” furniture stores throughout the country and consequently can be found gracing the floors of many stylish homes, lodges and business’s of the discerning.

Tomorrow

While Upton Oaks stands strong in the market place with their furniture designs and personalized service, we never take this position for granted and continue to evolve the business utilising the skills of our tradesman. Daves background as a builder has allowed us to renovate and craft beautiful new kitchens. We continue to see our strengths coming from our ability to design and create special unique piecesand kitchens for the astute. Being a smaller operator we have the ability to change styles and direction as the need requires.

What’s in the name?

Many people have asked me over the years “where did the name come from?”
Well it was way back in 1990 while delivering one of my first commissions up the Awatere Valley past the Upton Downs Rd, not too far from where we live. My rather happy client offered me an Oak tree from their amazing historic stand of Oaks, albeit the one offered to me was at the bottom of a very deep gully! Well I got so excited about the offer that I went home brimming from ear to ear thinking about that Oak tree up past the Upton Downs. Almost naturally I thought of “Upton Oaks”. The name had a great ring about it and from that day on that’s we have become known as, “Upton Oaks” (Dave Monahan)
“From small beginnings an Acorn becomes a mighty Oak”

In the beginning Dave’s approach was a simple one, “You do the best with what you have”.
Well that wasn’t much! Dave started out making furniture in what is now his dining room! With very little in the way of equipment and tools, he set out to make individual pieces in a hand crafted fashion purely because there wasn’t an option. Hand planing, handsanding, hand finishing were all just part of an everyday occurrence. It was what had to be done and it fitted well into the Country Look of the day. Before too long this became our trade mark!

Even today Upton Oaks still works by the same set of rules. Although their workshops offer much more by the way of equipment, the basics are still done in much the same way!