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His dream space [The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.]
[June 14, 2013]

His dream space [The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.]


(Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) June 14--Attention all guys. If you had a Paul Bunyan-sized barn all to yourself, what would you fill it with? John Hopen asked himself that question several years ago after retiring as a corporate pilot for companies like Nordstrom. He'd had enough, and wanted to dial back and start doing what he loved most. His interests were woodworking, music and cars.



So he set about building the ultimate workspace customized to his favorite hobbies. It included a woodshop that would be the envy of any carpenter, a recording studio, an office studio for business, jamming and watching a 60-inch flatscreen TV, and a garage for his dream driving machines.

"It's the ultimate mancave to me," he says of the shop, designed and built of sustainably harvested redwood to mimic a barn, complete with a double rolling barn door that is handy when milling large logs.


The barn fits neatly within the forested five acres that Hopen bought about nine years ago and looks out on a redwood ring that hides a fire pit for evening relaxing.

He enlisted Robert and Maben Rainwater, of Mission Hills Development in Sebastopol, to help design and build the 4,000 square-foot workshop -- a 2,000 square-foot main "barn" for all his woodworking equipment and 2,000 square-foot wings on either side.

The Rainwaters have a particular passion for Arts and Crafts design and architecture, so it's no surprise that the workshop has a Craftsman look. One one side is what Hopen describes as his "toy cave for fancy things." That includes a shiny new Shelby Mustang and a Harley-Davidson. Each has its own garage door and parking space marked by a floor-to-ceiling mural with the logo of the maker. In between is an empty space for a Ferrari he hopes to buy when the kids are out of college.

"It represents my passion," he says. "Italian sports cars, American muscle cars and classic American motorcycles. Big-boy toys." The opposite wing is a small, highly soundproofed recording studio and office for playing video games, watching sports and DVDs, and making music. Hopen plays both guitar and drums.

The center however, is the crown jewel, a woodshop filled with the best equipment, "Rolls Royce or A-minus" as he describes them, for milling, cutting and turning.

Even on an overcast morning the space is bright as day, thanks to skylights throughout the roof. Eight speakers pipe in music controlled by an amplifier in a closet in his office and controlled by an iPod from a tiny wall dock.

For Hopen, this is a return to what he loved as a child.

"My grandfather started me woodworking when I was five or six years old," he said. "He gave me a handsaw, a hammer, a Folger's Coffee can with miscellaneous nails in it and a pattern book on how to make toys. I would cut out everything by hand." In later years he began seriously studying under master woodworker David Marks, of Santa Rosa. He first saw Marks on a DIY network TV show, found him on the Internet, learned he was in Santa Rosa, and started flying down from Seattle for several weeks at a time to apprentice.

When it came time to figuring out a retirement haven, Sonoma County proved to be a natural spot. Hopen already was familiar with the turf, having served on the national board of directors for Canine Companions for Independence.

Three years after moving to a rural spot outside Sebastopol, his wife convinced him it was time for his own woodshop. He went online to figure out the dimensions of each piece of equipment and designed the layout to make sure each has enough room to use comfortably and move around. It's laid out with the heavy milling equipment by the door, then moving toward the finer turning machines and tools in the very back.

At 54, Hopen is living his dream. He said it's wonderful waking up in he morning, feeding the animals, getting the kids off to school and then heading to "work" down the hill, where he hangs out until late afternoon working on furniture and his latest challenge, making guitars. When he needs a break, he and his apprentice, Patrick Ballard, also a musician, do a little jamming.

"I still pinch myself that it's real," he said of the dream workshop that cost him $680,000. "It satisfies my artistic needs, keeps my brain function and helps keep me young and interested in life. When I walk up the driveway back into the house at the end of a day, it feels like I was at work at a job I love." You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at [email protected] or 521-5204.

___ (c)2013 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Visit The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) at www.pressdemocrat.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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