Paul Schürch

From a young age, Paul Schürch liked building things better than going to school. So when his Swiss dad moved the family from California to his home country, a 15-year-old Paul began a five-year apprenticeship building pianos and church organs. At 22, he came back to Santa Barbara to open his own furniture shop. With four languages under his belt, Schürch returned to Europe regularly to develop skills in specific areas, working side by side with masters of furniture restoration and design, stone inlay, veneering, and marquetry. In each place, he says, his hosts gave him a workbench, help with whatever he was building, and “a light smack on the head when needed.” His shop specializes in marquetry. Most pieces of veneer in one project? “2,850, without going blind!”