Dennis Derryberry, President and Craftsman, was first drawn to the art of furnituremaking at age 7 while concocting fortresses of Lego. Years later, after a varied career in writing and editing had run its course and the desire to work with his hands took over, Dennis found he greatly admired the everyday useful permanence, and beauty, of a well-crafted piece of furniture.

Upon relocating from NYC to Vermont, he landed a job with a small outfit making furniture. To this day, Dennis remains deeply grateful to Fred Paulette and Gihon Valley Furniture for giving him the opportunity to learn so much about this wonderful trade. There, Dennis discovered the look and feel of carefully milled hardwood. With its crisp straight edges, its smooth flat surfaces, its stark geometry, weighty elegance and lively undulations of grain, there could be no going back.

A couple of years passed, and Dennis had fallen in love with the precision mathematics and architectural puzzle presented in every design, as well as the steady, sequential progress of each project. Confident of his joinery skills, his knowledge of wood and structure and his intuitions about the creation process—and hoping to explore new designs while working much, much closer to his family—Dennis and Jenifer together formed Hastings Hill Woodworks in the town of Waitsfield, Vermont.

Jenifer Tuck, Chief Financial Officer, has a BA in Economics and an MBA in Finance from Vanderbilt University. She enjoys managing the business, keeping the books and keeping Dennis in line. A former corporate banker, high school teacher and non-profit administrator, Jenifer is especially keen about organization and details, and provides astute input into design, scheduling and quality control discussions. When she is not administering the business and taking care of their two daughters, Jenifer loves to peek into Dennis's workshop and witness the latest Hastings Hill Woodworks masterpiece in progress.

Today, Dennis and Jenifer particularly enjoy that the results of their work are so fixed and tangible, and so personal to all who have purchased our furniture. With every piece and in every detail, we strive to fully satisfy the "custom" in our customers. Each item is made to order, numbered, signed and dated. We are proud that a Hastings Hill piece will last for many decades and beyond, each day silently fulfilling its purpose while serving its owner. In an increasingly disposable society, we at Hastings Hill Woodworks find it comforting that the furniture we build is both stylish and sturdy enough to be passed down through generations.