Need a Local Master Carpenter or Cabinet Maker for your Next Custom Build? Look No Further…

By Alicia Sakal

Originally Published in the May 6th Edition of the Citizen News, serving Sherman and New Fairfield, Connecticut.

If you live in Sherman or New Fairfield, then chances are good that you have at least heard of The Havens Family or know them through professional or social connections. After all, they have multi-generational roots in both Sherman and New Fairfield, and the family has owned successful local businesses in the area that are still around and flourishing today.

Mr. Addison L. Havens is the family patriarch and for 45 years he has owned the highly reputable construction business, Addison L. Havens Custom Homes & Woodworking. His name and reputation within the community is synonymous with fine craftsmanship.

Daniel, Mr. Havens’ son, joined the family business in 2007, and they make quite the father / son team just like Mr. Havens did decades before with his father, Lester E. Havens who was a renowned master builder in New Fairfield since the mid-1940s. To this day, the New Fairfield Shopping Center, built in the 1950s for John Collins, remains a local landmark. The gift to build and create certainly runs in The Havens Family, three generations strong.

Building a Local Landmark

Another Havens who can build a landmark is Mr. Addison L. Havens. Almost every resident or visitor of Sherman knows the landmark that he built. Twenty-three years ago, he constructed the iconic commercial building where the American Pie Company and the Sherman United States Post Office are located, which is at the intersection of Routes 39 and 37. Not only did he build the exterior building, but he also built the interior and finished it off with intricate woodwork and cabinetry in the traditional country style – all of it, every square foot, was his creation. Dave Coffin, was the architect.

Custom Homes Everywhere

One doesn’t have to look far to view and experience the charm of a signature Havens home. Chances are you’ve come across a majority of the homes on a drive through Sherman on Leach Hollow, Orchard Rest Road, Farm Road, and Crawford Lane. Mr. Havens and his son, Dan, have expanded their business into New Fairfield and New Milford as well. One of their more recent masterpieces is The Wilkinson Homestead in New Milford. This father and son team just finished building the entire home in all of its glory, interior and exterior.

What’s especially commendable is that not only did he build the 1973 Sherman house that he and his wife still live in today, but he also built homes for all three of his children: Audrey Day and family of Sherman, Daniel Havens of Sherman, and Alice Wilkinson and family of New Milford. His seven grandchildren also take delight living in homes that Grandpa built. This is just like what Mr. Havens’ father did for his mother, Ruth, when he built the 1936 homestead on 20 Brush Hill Road in New Fairfield, where he grew up.

More Specialties

In addition to Mr. Havens and his son Daniel building custom new homes, buildings, and additions together; they also build big barns, out buildings, and decks, and they remodel or build new kitchen and bath cabinetry, home theater units and built-ins, and custom built furniture, too.

Building the Unusual

Basically, if you can dream it, then Mr. Havens can build it as he is always up for a project that’s different. Some unusual and interesting client requests through the years include building a steeple for The Sherman Playhouse, a skateboarding half pipe, custom cabinetry for home libraries, wooden parts for classic cars and pick-up trucks, and cabinets using re-purposed materials.

More Family History

There’s something really nice about doing business with a close-knit, family-owned and operated business in a small town community, like Sherman or New Fairfield. Rest assured, the reputation for quality, reliability, and custom carpentry is all there, and then some, with The Havens Family.

Mr. Havens’ daughter, Audrey Day, is a co-owner of the American Pie Company where she whips up delicious, out-of-this-world pies and desserts. Her husband Dave, along with their children, Emily, Jack and James, also help out with the business, which is renowned for its tasty comfort food, too.

As for Mr. Havens’ wife of 52 years, Carol, she happens to be Sherman’s Town Clerk for 40 years and works in a Town Hall just like Mr. Havens’ mother did in New Fairfield several decades before. Mrs. Havens has an amazing gardening talent that she puts to good use. She is the artistic gardener responsible for all of the delightful flowers that bloom around the American Pie Company property. Many patrons especially enjoy their outdoor dining experience because they look forward to sitting next to the exotic cherry blossom tree and the colorful flower gardens that she has personally grown and tends to year-after-year.

Where else but in Sherman can you visit a town landmark that’s a bakery and restaurant, and meet the builder’s daughter who is the co-owner? Then, when you go to the Town Hall after a nice lunch at American Pie Company to see the Town Clerk, you find out through casual conversation that she is the gardener responsible for the outdoor environment that you just enjoyed while dining outside on a patio at the restaurant that her daughter co-owns; which is located in a building that her husband created! Now, that’s called a “local” experience.

Patriotic, Too

Also worthy of mention, and with Memorial Day just around the corner, you can find Mr. Havens, along with his son Daniel, firing two three-quarter scale Civil War cannons at the Sherman Memorial Day Parade this year, just like in years past. Mr. Havens built one carriage in 1964, which was used before in New Fairfield on the Fourth of July, and the other was built in 1971. Now, that’s another hidden talent of his and it demonstrates how a master builder and craftsman’s mind and hands work together.

Contact Mr. Havens and Daniel Today for a Complimentary Consultation to Discuss Your Next Custom Project Idea. Call: 860.354.1723 or Email: HavensCustomHomes@gmail.com