Marlow & Sons is a five-person joinery in Camden, Maine, founded by Leonard Marlow Sr. in 1948 and presently kept by his grandson and granddaughter. We build kitchens, libraries, panelled rooms, freestanding case-pieces and the occasional boat-cabin in white oak, cherry and pine of the Maine woods.
We work to drawing, to sample, and to the level of a thumbnail; nothing is ordered without all three. The page that follows is the present datasheet of the workshop.
Frame-and-panel doors, dovetailed drawer boxes, hand-fitted to old houses. Two cabinetmakers, four to six months on the bench.
Full room panelling, built-in libraries, sliding-ladder shelves. Cherry, white oak, eastern white pine.
Freestanding cabinets, dining tables, writing desks. Drawn in pencil first, on Fabriano, at full size.
Open and closed-string stairs, hand-cut housings, turned or square newels. Eight months on the bench, four weeks on site.
Interior joinery for working and pleasure boats; teak, cherry and mahogany worked to marine standards. Schooners welcome.
Coped and stuck Georgian sashes, panelled doors, screen doors. Made-to-measure, hung on site.
Old work — old windows, old doors, old casework. We do not advertise this, but it is half of what we do.
Sometimes the drawing is the commission. We can prepare full sets of joinery drawings for other builders, in pencil and ink on cotton.
Mitchell & Bury through dovetail, half-pin at edges. Cut with a Lie-Nielsen 6 tpi gent's saw, pared to scribe.
Standard frame joint. Twin-haunched on outside members, blind on inside. Glued with hot hide, pegged with oak.
Coped and stuck stile, with a raised panel field. Beaded, hung on traditional H-hinges of brass.
Quartered white oak, 90 × 90, panelled on four faces with hand-cut beading. Pinned to the stringer below.
Cock-bead lipping on a slip-applied frame; quartered cherry face, secret-mitred mitres, bone keyhole escutcheon.
Three-part cornice in white pine: cyma above, hollow, fillet below. Shop-glued, scribed on site.
Granddaughter of Leonard Sr. Joined the bench at 19, took over in 2018. Leads the office, leads bench No.5.
Janie's older brother. Forty-eight years on the bench; runs No.1; the man for libraries and the difficult drawers.
Came to Camden from Gothenburg in 2003. Stairs, doors, windows, all the running joinery; runs No.3.
Joined 2022 from a yard in Penobscot. Boat cabinetry, teak and mahogany, the inlay; runs No.4.
We answer every enquiry by hand. The first conversation is short; if we are right for the piece, the second is on site, with measurements and the drawing pad.
The waiting list is presently nine to fourteen months for kitchens and six to nine for case-pieces. We do not work outside New England.
Bring measurements, a sketch or a photograph of the space.
Discuss a commissionConsider the proportions, materials and everyday use that make an object right for you.
Discuss samples, fit and finishes at the stages where your choices make a difference.
Learn the care, maintenance and repair practices that help well-made things age beautifully.
Share dimensions, intended use and material preferences. The maker can confirm feasibility, samples and a suitable scope.
Timing depends on materials, complexity and the workshop schedule. Ask for a current estimate before placing an order.
Request care guidance for the specific material and finish, including cleaning, storage and any repair options.
Bring measurements, a sketch or a photograph of the space.