Ann Kovara

Moving Sam Maloof: Saving an American Woodworking Legend’s Home and Workshops 

By Ann Kovara

Schiffer Publishing, $35

"Sam Maloof’s handcrafted California compound is almost as famous as the furniture maker himself, yet plans for a highway extension once threatened its existence. The late woodworker and his artist wife Alfreda responded with a decade-plus fight, first getting their home, studios, guesthouse, and selected trees registered as historic property then relocated as a “living” museum beside which they could reside. Moving Sam Maloof narrates this three-year relocation project completed in 2001, unfolding the complex negotiation between “progress and tradition, public needs, and private lives.” Construction manager and architect Ann Kovara, who helped oversee the project, tells the tale in loving detail. Her small, often personal observations reveal the cost of a tumultuous change for the couple, along with insider specifics on the move’s logistics – an insightful read for Maloof fans and anyone interested in historic preservation." ~Megan Guerber.

Ann Kovara served as the Maloof Relocation Project construction manager. Inspired by Sam Maloof, she wrote the non-fiction book, Moving Sam Maloof: Saving An American Woodworking Legend's Home and Workshops.

Photography Credits - Above: Ann Kovara (Norah Tahiri); Left to Right: Sam Maloof (Tavo Olmos from Winter 2000/2001 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine, as copyrighted by the Taunton Press); Maloof Historic Residence (Bob Buettner); palm relocation (Bob Buettner); table (Norah Tahiri); patterns (Norah Tahiri); music stand (Norah Tahiri); wooden latch (Norah Tahiri) / Front cover & book's graphic design: Norah Tahiri / Book cover design: Matt Goodman

Link to American Craft Council book review: https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/devotion

-Published on Monday, November 21, 2016. This article appears in the October/November 2016 issue of American Craft Magazine.