\n Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
He chose the latter, deciding he didn\u2019t want to be a firefighter with a \u201cthing on the side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of like a leap of faith,\u201d Greene said. \u201cI don\u2019t regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those early years were hard. Greene scraped by, often taking odd jobs and working long hours to meet deadlines. He took on street fairs, gallery shows, commissions \u2014 anything to get his work out. Slowly, the years of scraping by gave way to stability.<\/p>\n
One of those clients \u2014 one who kept calling back \u2014 would go on to shape some of Greene\u2019s most ambitious work.<\/p>\n
Ken Pellman, Greene\u2019s longest-standing client, first commissioned a small knickknack display 30 years ago. Soon after, Greene\u2019s work filled nearly every room of his former Palos Verdes home: lamps, shelves, an altar, an armoire adorned with a lotus flower.<\/p>\n
![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755811582_472_\")
<\/p>\n
Harold Greene has crafted custom furniture for decades. <\/p>\n
\u201cI look at it every day and I see something new,\u201d Pellman said about the armoire. \u201cIt makes me so appreciate life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two collaborated closely. Greene brought the craft, and Pellman brought the ideas.<\/p>\n
The most striking piece Greene made for Pellman was a Japanese-style pergola that he used as a teahouse. The project was a challenge from the start. The city would only permit one post in the ground, not two. Greene reimagined the structure\u2019s engineering. It became not only a feat of design but also a favorite of Greene\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Even after Pellman moved to an apartment in San Pedro, he brought much of Greene\u2019s furniture with him. However, the beloved pergola was left behind, nestled in the yard of his former home.<\/p>\n
Another client, Dr. Venu Divi, a San Pedro ear, nose and throat specialist, first hired Greene to design wood paneling for his office. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a complete master of his craft,\u201d Divi said.<\/p>\n
Greene believes furniture has a story to tell \u2014 that every piece of wood has a life: where it grew, what it endured and what it eventually becomes. Wood, he said, has also told the story of his own life.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755811583_91_\")
<\/p>\n
Harold Greene\u2019s Stewart Dining Chair in curly black walnut.<\/p>\n
His wife, Kathleen Seixas Greene, has watched his craft evolve over their 43-year marriage. \u201cThe pieces kind of represent who we are,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom the toy box for our children to what he makes now, they reflect where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her favorite is their outdoor table, which Greene crafted from leftover teak and inlaid with gecko leaves, a nod to her late mother\u2019s favorite plant. The table has become a gathering place. <\/p>\n
Greene sets aside time each year to make one piece for their San Pedro home. He has carved jellyfish on closet doors and has etched sea kelp into the front door for his wife, who\u2019s an ocean swimmer.<\/p>\n
Before Greene starts sketching and building a new project, he spends time visualizing it, imaging what it could look like. \u201cIdeas \u2014 they\u2019re out there, somewhere, trying to grab something that\u2019s in the ether and bring it into three dimensions,\u201d Greene said. <\/p>\n
Greene, now in his early 70s, has no plans to slow down. His workload is full. His sketchbook is too. He\u2019s booked for the next year, and he\u2019s thinking about new ideas and preparing to build a larger studio. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt never gets old,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy retire from something you love to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
In terms of woodworking, he avoids table saws because they interrupt his workflow, and he favors interlocking joinery for strength.<\/p>\n
His material palette is broad but deliberate. Although he occasionally sources wood globally, he prioritizes sustainability through buying from local lumberyards and reclaimed urban timber suppliers. He also salvages fallen street trees or storm-damaged wood.<\/p>\n
Among his signature works is the Soliarc Chaise Lounge, a limited edition of 100. On 1stDibs, it sells for $5,000, while his dining chairs go for $3,000 apiece. His sculptural entry doors start at $6,000, and custom dining tables range from $3,000 to $15,000. <\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755811583_7_\")
<\/p>\n
Harold Greene stands next to one of his custom chairs outside his San Pedro studio.<\/p>\n
Still, Greene values the work more than the sale. \u201cI made a lot of sacrifices for the work,\u201d he said. \u201cI never really let the quality of what I\u2019m doing slip \u2014 no matter the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, Greene has taken up in-person teaching, so he can pass along his knowledge to students across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely want to pass on the craft,\u201d said Greene, who has taught at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine and Two Rock School of Woodworking in Petaluma, Calif., among others. He\u2019ll teach next year at the Austin School of Furniture in Texas and speak at the Texas Woodworking Festival<\/a>. <\/p>\nMost days Greene can be found working alone, though he occasionally works with an assistant. He prefers it that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fuel is the work itself,\u201d Greene said. \u201cThere\u2019s not enough time in a day and not enough time in my life to do everything that I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years of woodworking, Greene has grown fond of working with particular trees and their aromas. His favorite wood is \u201chinoki,\u201d commonly known as Port Orford cedar. He said it has the most amazing smell.<\/p>\n
But perhaps more than the scent or the shape or the function of the wood is what keeps Greene going: the chance to build something lasting. Not just to be looked at, but something to be lived in, sat in, handed down to the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPay attention to the details, those matter,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re making something that\u2019s going to last longer than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a hot August morning, sunlight pools across a warm-toned teak dining table in Harold Greene\u2019s backyard in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,94964,1033,72669,1700,84460,94963,94966,2961,2252,224,5337,8061,94965,10074,6620,5953,94967,8066],"class_list":{"0":"post-164785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-craft","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-early-year","13":"tag-favorite","14":"tag-greene","15":"tag-handmade-furniture","16":"tag-ken-pellman","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-life","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-piece","22":"tag-san-pedro","23":"tag-table","24":"tag-time","25":"tag-wood","26":"tag-woodworking","27":"tag-work"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115068874890678663","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}