Crafted With Old World Care

Crafted With Old World Care

By Anita L. Sherman

Need a bookcase to fit a special spot in your family room? What about bookshelves for an entire library?

At Old World Woodworking, located at Halfway near The Plains, no project is too great or small they won’t welcome crafting.

And crafting is the key thanks to long-time master cabinet builder Dave Fox, who has more than 40 years of experience creating beautiful works made of wood.

Smell the lumber. Let the fine dust floating through the air and lit by sunlight flooding the workshop magically envelop the senses. Wonderful things are happening here.

Sitting comfortably in their reception area, Fox, Scott Knepper and his son, Andrew (Scott) Knepper talk enthusiastically about their passion – building and working with wood.

The elder Knepper has decades of experience in the construction field. In addition to Old World Woodworking, he also heads up OzConstruction LLC, out of Leesburg, putting together the likes of restaurants and medical clinics. He credits his wife, Renee, for embarking on his entrepreneurial journey and starting his own business 30 years ago.

“That [OzConstruction] is all in the field work,” said Scott Knepper. “You’re working on site. With Old World Woodworking, the focus is on residential customers and their specific needs, so I decided to open up a separate shop.”

The location was found rather serendipitously in 2019.

“We travel on (The Plains Road) a lot, dine at Girasole, and were looking for a place with rural character. When we found that this building was on the market, it seemed the perfect fit for us,” said Knepper who later learned from a longtime resident that the building was once used as a cabinet shop in the 1970s.

While considered part of The Plains, Old World Woodworking is located in the hamlet of Halfway, on Halfway Road, equidistant between The Plains and Middleburg, Virginia.

“We named it Old World because we feel we’re reinventing an old spirit that once existed here. We still use a lot of hand equipment. It’s pretty amazing.

“He’s the last of a dying breed,” Knepper said of Fox, another great find. “He’s the calm and quiet one. We’re a really good fit.”

Originally from Bend, Oregon, Fox has been honing his woodworking skills for decades, and was thrilled when asked to work at Old World. “I get to be creative,” said Fox. “You’re going into people’s homes to talk with them about their projects. They need to trust you.”

Beaming profusely, Knepper couldn’t be happier about another huge value-added asset to his business— working with his son, Andrew Scott (who goes by Scott).

The younger Knepper has been at his father’s side from a young age when his mother would put him in overalls to tag along with dad to job sites. That led to working long hours alongside his father as a teenager. Now 22, he’s finishing his degree in construction management and technology at Arizona State and eventually plans to work full time at Old World Woodworking.

“He’s always loved it and now he’ll be apprenticing with Dave to learn as much as he can from him,” said Knepper. “That and his research and marketing savvy will add a lot to the business.”

“We’re a team. We all work together. And working with wood is so fulfilling. We’re excited to be here.”

Old World Woodworking, 2788 Halfway Road, The Plains, VA. www. oldworldwoodworkingtheplains.com

Whether a single bookcase or luxury library with coffered ceiling, no task is too small or large at Old World Woodworking.