Wise Owl Joinery was founded by Richard Cormier, a skilled and conscientious craftsman from Nova Scotia.

In the late 80's, Richard headed west to pursue his dream of log building by taking a course at B. Allan Mackie School of Log Building. He spent the next five years in the beautiful Shuswap outside of Salmon Arm, B.C. learning and honing his skills with Ed Campbell and Associates. During this time, he was also fortunate enough to bring his passion for building to Japan on two occasions.

In the spring of 1991, Richard took Tedd Benson's timber framing course in Port Townsend, Washington and “got the bug”. During the winter of 1992, he worked on a Custom Dovetail house off Vancouver Island.

To further enhance his skills, Richard and his wife Lisa moved to Ontario in 1993, so he could attend a one-year traditional millwork course outside of Ottawa. For the next four years, Richard worked with Northern Timberhouse in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario.

In the summer of 1998, he and his family migrated back to Nova Scotia, and after a few years of travelling to Ontario and New Brunswick, as well as working for small local shops, Wise Owl Joinery was born.

Over the years, Richard has studied under the following masters: Edward Schmidt from B.C. (chip carving); Canadian Champs Dennis and Todd Moore from Ontario; and World Champion Wayne Barton (originally from Switzerland and now living in Illinois USA).

Richard loves to chat about his knowledge and experiences and is always on the hunt for old tools and new ideas.