Published: October 19, 2009 09:41 am      

Red Dog & Company

London couple turns hobby into thriving business

Click here to see the Oct. 17, 2009, Neighbors section in its entirety


By Erica Bowlin

For the Times Tribune

Michael Angel has a guardian angel that must be working over time.

Angel survived a serious injury on the job as an agent for the United States Treasury Department, when he was shot in the leg.

Angel retired and moved to the farm he had dreamed of coming home to for years. He began crafting furniture and artwork. He decided to start living the American dream.

He and his wife of 47 years, Freddi, work together making furniture and crafts in a woodshop near their home in London.

The retired couple lives on a vast acreage of rolling hills, forests, gardens and gazebos. At the end of a winding country road lies the homestead known as “Angel Acres.”

It’s a fitting name for this grand farm, which could justly be described as heavenly.

There’s a hanging sign that reads “Red Dog & Co. Chairmakers” which leads to the workshop and showroom. It is one of many wooden buildings on the farm, rather unassuming from the outside. On the inside however, awaits an array of furniture and crafted pieces of all shapes and sizes.

A large, handcrafted table of walnut is the centerpiece of the showroom, surrounded by hand-made chairs. Impressive in size and quality, the setting proclaims the talent of its makers.

In the back of the showroom is where Freddi, Michael’s wife of 47 years, does her part of the chair making.

She hand finishes each chair that her husband crafts in the basement below.

“I finish them because he doesn’t have the patience for that kind of thing. I do enjoy it,” said Freddi.

Michael and his wife have raised their children, daughter Amber and son Kelly, and worked all their lives. Freddi worked as a secretary while Michael was a Marine, State Trooper, and worked for the Treasury Department.

After suffering the injury to his leg in 1994, the couple retired and moved to their countryside home.

While recuperating in the mountains of his home, Michael worked on some chairs that his grandfather had crafted.

“My mother asked me to refinish them and I joked that I could make a chair faster than I could fix one of these things,” said Michael.

Michael recalls his mother set forth a challenge.

“I think she said ‘I’d like to see you try!’ And so I did make some chairs. I did some research and really got into it.”

Soon the Angels were getting more and more requests for custom chairs, tables, and other handicrafts.

“After working so hard all your life, it does feel good to do what you really love to do,” said Michael.

Their showroom is filed with chairs and tables, along with other pieces including a children’s rocking horse. Each item is handcrafted and made from Kentucky wood such as ash, cherry, oak or walnut.

Michael works in a fully equipped woodshop and the art is finished by Freddi and displayed in the showroom above.

Red Dog & Co. specializes in “mule ear” chairs which refers to the way the posts on the chairs stick up, like the ears of a mule. All the chairs bear the Angel’s signature: a paw shape on the hand rests.

Freddi remembers how Red Dog & Co. got its name.

“We decided to build a shop to accommodate all the requests, and we were trying to figure out what to call it,” she said. “We had an old dog called Red Dog. He always sat at Michael’s feet when he was working. So I suggested the name Red Dog & Co and it just stuck.”

“We do most of the work ourselves, and when we need some outside work done, we call on local craftsmen whenever possible,” said Michael.

“Thank goodness, we do have two employees, father and son, Ronnie and Doug Wyrick, and we could never do it without their help,” added Freddi.

Seated on the porch swing, the couple rocks and forth and reflects on how a hobby has become a way of life.

Red Dog & Co has grown into a bustling business. The phone rings busily with orders for custom pieces, and the Angels are happy to oblige. They take turns answering the phone and then go back to swinging.

The homestead was abuzz with the sounds of weed eaters, mowers, and hammering last week as the Angel Acres was being prepared for a farm tour.

The farm industry tour was made possible by the Laurel County Extension office and brought over two hundred participants who traveled by trolley. Freddie said it was an honor to be named one of the three farms to be included in the tour.

“Of course we are very happy to be a part of it,” said Freddie.

“I am just amazed by how much preparation goes into getting ready for a group that size.”

There are many sights and sounds on the Angel’s farm to keep the visitors entertained.

Hand built log cabins, barns, and beautifully sculpted gardens, and of course the handcrafted furniture and artwork.

But perhaps more inspiring than all the natural beauty and art is the bond between the husband and wife team who work together, acting in unison to craft such unique creations.