Michael Downs Builder / Cabinetmaker
Kittery Point · Maine seacoast

Cabinets and homes,
built the slow way.

One workshop. One builder. Custom cabinetry, built-ins, and thoughtful home projects drawn to your rooms, joined by hand, and finished to last a lifetime on the Maine coast.

Start a project See the work
  • Owner on every jobDesign, build, install — same hands
  • Solid-wood joineryDovetails, mortise & tenon, hand-fit
  • Coastal-tough finishBuilt for salt air and old houses
  • Honest quotesFixed scope, no surprise line items
What I Build

Furniture-grade work for the rooms you actually live in.

Kitchens, libraries, mudrooms, boat-house cubbies — the projects that matter most are the ones you touch every day. Every commission is drawn, built, and installed by the same pair of hands, so the details never get lost in translation.

/ 01

Custom Kitchens & Pantries

Face-frame or full-overlay, painted or oiled — planned around how you actually cook, drawn to the odd corners of an old Maine house.

  • Inset doors
  • Dovetail drawers
  • Soapstone-ready runs
/ 02

Built-Ins & Libraries

Bookcases, window seats, fireplace surrounds, and reading nooks built to the wall, not to a warehouse box. Scribed, planed, and finished on site.

  • Scribe-fit
  • Solid casings
  • Hidden storage
/ 03

Additions & Renovations

Small-footprint additions, kitchen re-do's, mudrooms, entry porches. General contracting kept to a scale where I can still swing the hammer.

  • Design assist
  • Selective demo
  • Trim carpentry
/ 04

Boathouses & Sheds

Small outbuildings that read as if they've always been there — cedar shingle, standing seam, honest framing. Ideal for waterfront lots.

  • Cedar shingle
  • Ipe decking
  • Marine-grade hardware
/ 05

Freestanding Furniture

A hall table, a Shaker cupboard, a farm bench, a captain's desk. One-off pieces drawn to the room they're going into.

  • Hand-cut joinery
  • Oil / shellac / milk paint
  • Heirloom scale
/ 06

Restoration & Repair

Weather-beaten porch, split window casing, sagging sea captain's mantel? Old-house work matched to the era, not covered over.

  • Sash repair
  • Custom moulding
  • Wood epoxy work
The Workshop

A small shop by the water. That's the whole business plan.

Michael Downs works out of a single-builder shop on the Kittery Point side of the Piscataqua. Every project — from a walnut vanity to a full kitchen — is drawn, milled, joined, and finished by the same person. No sub'd cabinet shop, no rotating crew, no phone tag with a project manager.

The work is deliberately slow. Solid stock instead of veneered particleboard. Dovetails, mortise-and-tenon, and hand-fit face frames instead of pocket screws where it matters. Finishes chosen for salt air, oiled floors, and old plaster walls.

Build it once. Build it so it belongs in the room. Then leave it alone for fifty years. — the workshop credo
1builder
on every job
100%solid-wood
drawer boxes
50-yrfurniture-grade
outlook
Preview site — figures shown are placeholders until we finalize with the owner.
How A Commission Works

Four unhurried steps, from first drawing to installed piece.

Every project moves at the pace of the wood. Expect a real conversation before anything is ordered, and expect to see the piece before it leaves the shop.

Walk the space

We meet in the room the piece will live in. Measurements, sightlines, how the light moves, how you actually use the space.

Draw & quote

You get scaled elevations, a materials list, and a fixed-scope quote. No mystery line items — if it isn't drawn, it isn't billed.

Build in the shop

Rough milling, joinery, dry-fit, finish. You're welcome in the shop to look at samples and see the piece coming together.

Install & hand off

Delivery, scribe-fit, hardware, punch list, and a walk-through so you know how to care for the finish. Then it's yours.

White Oak
Black Walnut
Cherry
Hard Maple
Solid Brass
Soapstone
Where I Work

Rooted in Kittery Point. At home across the seacoast.

Most commissions are within an easy drive of the workshop, from the Piscataqua up to Ogunquit and inland to South Berwick. Larger cabinet jobs travel further; get in touch and we'll figure it out.

  • Kittery Point
  • Kittery
  • York Harbor
  • York Beach
  • Cape Neddick
  • Ogunquit
  • Eliot
  • South Berwick
Start Your Project

Have a project in mind? Let's talk it through.

Every commission starts with a conversation. Tell me a little about the room and the piece you're picturing, and we'll set up a time to walk the space together.

No spam, ever. Owner reads every message.

Prefer to talk?

Custom work benefits from a real conversation. Reach out and we'll set up a site visit — usually within a week or two of your first note.

Call the workshop Number goes here once we go live.
Email direct Owner email drops in here at launch.
Workshop Kittery Point, Maine · by appointment
Response time Typically same week · site visit within 1–2 weeks
Browse the work first