People We Meet: Derek Stavenger

San Francisco CA

03 April, 2021

2:22 PM

Description

By Juan Carlos Lara, Mission Local April 3, 2021 When Derek Stavenger took a middle school woodworking course, he fell in love with the craft. Now, roughly 50 years later Stavenger still enjoys spending his days making things out of his workshop in Cypress Alley. "I'm mostly self taught," said Stavenger. " I had kind of a knack for it, and I love wood; each piece is different, each species has its own special characteristics." Stavenger ran a painting business for much of his early adulthood, and still does, but decided 20 years ago to invest more seriously in woodworking, not only as a hobby but as a profession. "I kind of just took stock, wasn't super happy in the painting business. So I took a look at myself and asked what I really loved doing, and woodworking popped up as the number one thing," Stavenger said. Much of Stavenger's work today is in old Victorian homes, replacing rotting or missing parts, or creating new additions. He also works on his own 1875 Victorian. "It needed everything redone, so I've restored it from the foundation up. New electrical, basically rebuilt the whole building. As all the bigger projects have gotten finished, I've started to make a lot of furniture for the house," Stavenger said. "Woodworking is a different way of thinking. It's a form of active meditation, rather than just sitting, it's doing something," Stavenger said. While business slowed during the pandemic,Stavenger has enjoyed the solitude of working in his shop. "I'm a little bit of an introvert so I love being at home and certainly have a ton of home projects to do," Stavenger said. Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.