Meet Rod
Rod Specht has spent his life working with wood.
For more than fifty years, he has built, refined, and finished homes with a practiced eye honed over decades of finish work. He previously owned and operated a successful carpentry business as its sole owner and craftsman, personally overseeing every project for more than forty years while remaining fully hands-on in the work itself.
For most of his career, the work traveled almost entirely by word of mouth. He never advertised. He never needed to. Many of the homes he worked in belonged to individuals who value privacy as much as craftsmanship, including global leaders in technology, music, and business. The work spoke quietly and consistently for itself.
After decades of work on the East Coast, Rod relocated to the Midwest to be closer to his grandchildren. Carpentry now fits around school pickups, story time, and family life. The scale is intentional. The standard has not changed.
Locally, Rod is easy to recognize. Around Lake Bluff and Lake Forest, he is known as the craftsman in athleisure year-round, unfazed by subzero temperatures, carrying an unmistakable New York accent. He still arrives in a well-worn vintage tan van, a reminder that what matters here is the work itself.
Classic Woodworking continues today because the craft remains fulfilling, challenging, and worth doing well.