A Master’s Skill
Quality Millwork by Brownco Creates Functional Art
In a world full of mass production and prefabrication, it’s easy to forget the quality a master craftsman can bring to a project. Until you look at his work. Jerry Brown of Dallas-based Quality Millwork by Brownco is such a craftsman, and he’s been leaving his mark on projects in North Texas and beyond for almost 40 years. From corporate offices to restaurants to luxury condominiums, Jerry is always eager for a new challenge and an opportunity to meld functionality and artistry together for his clients.
“There’s not anything I won’t touch,” Jerry says. “There’s nothing I’ll say I can’t do. I like freeform design and the opportunity to make something different. When your job and hobby are one, you enjoy what you do.”
Jerry’s passion for woodworking dates back to his childhood in Abilene, Texas. In junior high, he started making birdhouses out of cedar shingles and selling them in his front yard. He would have his mother drive him down to the local lumberyard, and they would fill her trunk with scrap shingles for $1. Throughout high school and into college, he continued making and selling his woodwork.
“I took industrial arts all through high school,” Jerry says. “I was going through building trades in my senior year and my teacher insisted I go to college. I ended up getting a full music scholarship to Cisco College. I transferred to Sam Houston State University, stayed in music for one more year and changed to industrial education technology before ending up with a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching.”
Hanging His Own Shingle
In college, when he wasn’t playing solo trumpet as part of his music scholarship, Jerry kept his hands busy working on cabinet making, wood finishing, crafts and leather. After graduation, he spent a few years putting his degree to work as a teacher, then went back into construction.
“My first job after teaching was with Trammell Crow in Houston,” Jerry says. “I did the interior finish-out on two tilt-wall buildings before I decided I wanted something else. I found a better job in residential with Merrick Homes and helped build a couple of subdivisions in Sugar Land, Texas. Along the way, I started picking up side jobs in woodworking and ended up making more money from those than I was from my regular job.”
That extra income made Jerry decide he could make it on his own, and in 1980, he opened his shop. He’s been going strong ever since. He’s recognized by the Architectural Woodwork Institute, and is ranked 14th in a list of the Top 100 craftsmen in the United States and Mexico as compiled by Wood & Wood Products magazine. Despite his success, Jerry has intentionally kept his operation small, only bringing in extra help when the situation calls for it. He prefers to keep it that way. “If you stay a small shop, you can be sure you keep up the quality,” Jerry says. “Get too big and you can’t do it all yourself. You have to trust others to do what you should be doing. I’d rather stay a one-man show.”
Outside the Box
Every piece that comes out of Jerry’s shop is custom-designed for the client’s needs, a fact that sets him apart from most “production” shops, he says. “Only about 5 percent of woodworkers work outside the box,” Jerry says. “You can’t bid projects like you do in a production shop. They have the same basic things they do for everyone. Like cabinets, for example. Anyone can make those. We’re doing a doughnut shop right now that calls for a complete façade. Everything is rustic, with walls of wood and glass. You won’t find that in a production shop. They just have a few things they do. We work in wood, ornamental metal, hot steel, custom finishes. With my degree, my experience and everything else behind me, I’ve worked with so many mediums. I know how to do this stuff and make sure it’s done right. I like taking on other areas and new challenges, things like flooring, glass, other materials. There’s not anything we won’t touch.”
Jerry has worked on a variety of projects for multiple clients around North Texas and beyond. He has put his skills to use for eight churches throughout the area, which he finds immensely satisfying. In recent years, he has done a feature ceiling and custom walls for the sales office of the Ashton Woods Homes design studio in Plano, Texas; he has done the finish-out for the high-end Mitsuwa Marketplace in Plano (a project that lasted a year, as each piece of work he did earned him more work); and what was probably his largest project—the Capital One offices in Plano.
“That was a $2 million project,” Jerry says. “It was awesome. I did ceiling clouds and a three-story staircase straight up from the ground floor. I put together a gorgeous cafeteria, with 200 booth seats and modular arts mineral panels.”
“There’s nothing I’ll say I can’t do. I like freeform design and the opportunity to make something different. When your job and hobby are one, you enjoy what you do.”
Jerry Brown, Owner, Quality Millwork by Brownco
Art in Design
Currently, he’s working on projects including a country club as well as the new lobby and bar for the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas Near the Galleria and a new concept restaurant in the Galleria called The Dapper Doughnut. Other ongoing and recent projects include new exterior doors on the Tarrant County courthouse and a service center at Rusty Wallis Honda in Dallas, part of a new service center concept for the Honda Motor Company, the first of its kind in the United States.
“Ninety-nine percent of my work is referred or given to me,” Jerry says. I don’t do a lot of bidding. The last two years with The Blue Book Network have been very good for me and the company. The leads I’ve gotten through The Blue Book Network have been worth their weight in gold.”
For all the projects Jerry has done, he says the most challenging one ever was for the Valley Ranch Library, when the client asked him to create a pirate ship inside the building.
“By the time it was done, I’d built a 34-foot ship in there,” Jerry says. “I had to design the entire thing. There were just so many different elements to it, so many things to figure out. I had to come up with ways to make the cannons, the mast, everything else. I did all of it here in the shop. I used front porch posts for the cannons. We ended up with a half-façade of a ship that fills up half the library. It is beautiful.”
He is always looking for a new challenge to meet, a new project for his hands and a new opportunity to showcase his skills for a client that wants something truly extraordinary.
“You can literally go wild with some of the stuff you can do, if given the chance,” Jerry says. “If a customer gives you the freedom to create, you can build something amazing.”