Ros Broughton is a fourth-generation woodworker who made a name for himself in the 1990s, creating bespoke furniture for high-end clients in San Francisco. He grew up jobbing for his father, a general contractor; building timber-frame houses with his brother; and hearing stories from his grandfather about the challenges of being head of production for the Hitchcock Chair Company in Connecticut.
Business was good, but Broughton became weary of catering to mostly “one-percenters” and began dreaming of ways to create high-end, handmade products that could be locally sourced and sustainably built. In 2014, he found a like-minded entrepreneur in Dave Charne, and the two cofounded the Fyrn design and build company.
In short order, Broughton began tinkering with a proprietary parts-and-pieces system which would come to be called Stemn. Fyrn’s 15 employees create tables, chairs, and other furniture by cutting and shaping locally sourced maple, oak, and walnut by hand, and then connecting each piece with an easily manipulatable aluminum hinge system (instead of screws or glues). The resulting creations—each one featuring unique grains and subtleties in finish—are identifiable by their clean, minimalist lines and inheritable quality.
“Simplicity isn’t easy,” Broughton says. “To us, simplicity is creating something that can stand the test of time, structurally and aesthetically.” Charne is especially proud of the fact that, like huge retailers including Ikea, Fyrn’s furniture can be shipped flat and easily assembled by the customer, which also saves on transport costs and is easier on the environment. “It’s a farm-to-table mindset,” he says. “Our aim is to make the work as widely accessible, both economically and structurally, as possible.”
David Schimke is American Craft’s senior editor and head of digital content.
David Charne (left) and Ros Broughton.
