Meet Gio, the maker behind El Nogal
Giovani “Gio” Ortega is the carpenter behind El Nogal Carpentry, a self-taught maker who has worked wood by hand in the DMV for more than twenty years. El Nogal is his family business, based in Olney, Maryland, where he builds custom furniture, built-ins, and personalized pieces to measure.
Gio Ortega has spent more than twenty years working wood by hand in the DMV, and El Nogal Carpentry is the family business he built to put that work under his own name.
Gio is self-taught. He learned the craft the long way, at the bench, piece by piece, and more than twenty years of that work is in his hands now. He started El Nogal to build a legacy in wood, made with his own hands, the kind of pieces that outlast the person who ordered them.
El Nogal is a young company built on a long apprenticeship to the material. Gio makes every piece himself, from the first cut to the final finish, and treats each commission as something meant to last. His sons, Chris and David, run the operations and the office, so the family handles your quotes, your questions, and your project while Gio stays at the bench.
El Nogal is licensed in Maryland and serves the DMV from Olney.
We believe wood carries memory, and that a piece made by hand for one home is worth more than one made by machine for none.
Every piece is made to measure, built for the room it’s going into and the people who’ll use it. We work in solid wood, join it to last, and finish it by hand so the grain shows. We don’t rush what should be done well, and we don’t put our name on anything we wouldn’t want in our own home. And we stand behind it: every piece carries a two-year guarantee against defects in our workmanship and joinery.
- Who makes the furniture at El Nogal?
- Giovani Ortega makes every piece himself, by hand. He’s self-taught, with more than twenty years working wood in the DMV, and he handles each commission from first cut to final finish.
- Is El Nogal really family-run?
- Yes. Gio builds the pieces, and his sons Chris and David run the operations and office. The family handles your project directly.
- How long has El Nogal been around?
- El Nogal is a young company, but Gio’s experience isn’t. He’s been working wood by hand in the DMV for more than twenty years, and El Nogal puts that work under his own name.
Have a piece in mind?
Tell Gio what you want to create, and he’ll help shape it in wood.
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