The Orcas Workshop Brings Craftsmen and Families Together

— by Cara Russell —

Lila and Ezra Richardson, with their children at the Orcas Workshop

Ezra and Lila Richardson, owners of the family business the Orcas Workshop Storefront and Showroom, will be offering a unique line of outdoor family furniture, at their seasonal shop across from the Village Green in Eastsound.

All of the furniture is made on Orcas Island from untreated and non-toxic, custom milled, handcrafted wood. “We’re of the mindset that you take a table and then build your life around it,” said Lila.

The showroom will display a dozen outdoor dining, picnic, and side tables, benches, stools, picnic trays, and more. The furniture is crafted from Cedar, Douglas Fir, Maple, and Madrona wood. One particular table style you will see at the Orcas Workshop is the Bookmatched Live Edge table that displays the grain and features of the tree, making each piece unique to the tree it was created from.
“We feel that in turning that tree into a beautiful piece of furniture, something that a family can gather around, that the tree is being given a second life,” said Lila.

Ezra and Lila were inspired to make furniture when Lila was pregnant with their first child, Cienna. Lila was shopping around for a rocking chair for the baby. She wanted something of a quality that could be passed down to her kids, who may someday have children of their own. “I couldn’t find a quality rocker that I wanted. It either wasn’t solid wood, the quality was poor, or the wood was heavily treated.” The couple found the same limitations in looking for a bookshelf for their baby.

“Ezra has been building things for 14 years, and creating with his hands is in his blood. And he grew up this way because his dad is a master carver and his mom is an artist,” said Lila. So Ezra made a bookshelf with heart cutouts for Cienna, “one of the first specially-requested and handmade items. It was perfect.” After he finished it, he kept on building more furniture for the family.

Likewise, Lila says, “Our outdoor furniture is designed with families in mind. It is built to last and each piece is inspired by the island’s natural beauty.

“Although we are a family business, we have a team of people who we work with; many hands touch each piece. It really is fun. One person may have an idea/design for a table and another may build it; one person salvages the wood; another mills it and yet another may sand it; so it really is a team effort where we all can be creative and support each others’ ideas. Orcas Workshop hopes to be a hub where artists can come together to see how their individual work can be part of a collective.”

So while you are about town on the weekends, stop by and check out the Workshop and meet Lila and Ezra, get some lemonade from Cienna and Hayes’s lemonade stand, and maybe find your piece of Orcas to take home with you.

The Orcas Workshop is open seasonally, Thursday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment at 376-9700, info@orcasworkshp.com or online at https://orcasworkshop.com