Stefan Arne Carlson is a carpenter who works in snow. The dauntless Cold Spring tradesman credits his Swedish heritage for functioning in weather intimidating to the average local resident.
Apologizing for leaving one loose end on a winter job until warmer weather, he explained why the material could not be used in frosty weather: “I may be Swedish, but the material isn”™t.”
Actually, Carlson is American of Swedish background. His father, a Swedish immigrant, enlisted in the American Infantry to fight in World War II.
As a student at Chappaqua”™s Horace Greeley High, he opted for a trade. After touring BOCES, he leaned toward the plumbing program.
“At enrollment time the program was filled, so I entered carpentry,” he said.
“It was a good choice,” he declares today. “It”™s both physical and mental labor. In building stairways and other areas requiring exact measurements, I use my geometry,” he explains.
He became a hero to the restoration people when he successfully undertook the arduous task of moving a historic red chapel from its location at 569 Route 9D to the Horsemen Trail Farm of Dr. Mary Ellen Finger and her husband, Dave Vickery, where it will be used for holistic healing.
“The Episcopal chapel was built in the 1770s where St. Philip”™s Church now stands,” Carlson recounts. “It was severely damaged during the Revolutionary War.
“In 1864 it was moved to make room for the construction of St. Philip”™s. In those days there were no high wires to dodge, so moving was not such a challenge. With the recent move we had to dismantle the building, to get it under the wires and reassemble it after it reached the new location. The move was made at 4:30 a.m. to avoid traffic. I advised Dr. Finger that it would be cheaper to build a new barn, but she was passionate to save this historic structure and spent the funds to do so.”
Then there was the prospective bridegroom from northern Westchester seeking to build a home.
“I completed the 12,000-square-foot mansion in one year and one day,” Carlson reports with satisfaction. “It had a wine area accommodating 5,000 bottles, an indoor pistol range, a 12-car garage and a 900-square-foot walk-in closet for the bride. My last home was 900 square feet,” he jests.
Carlson suffered heartbreak after purchasing 15 acres along Clove Brook Creek. A crumbling bridge led to his property and also to a private road accommodating eight homes that were inaccessible to emergency vehicles. In addition to building his own road, he replaced the bridge with a covered bridge 50 feet long, 20 feet wide, with a 46-ton capacity. With a 5-year building contract bank loan, he completed drainage and other underground work necessary for subdivision into five lots.
“That was in the 2008 depression. No bank would loan to prospective buyers,” he said. “Despite my excellent credit rating, the bank refused to extend my contract and foreclosed. I still own the road and the bridge.”
“The American dream is dead,” he grimaces about the plight of many clients. “Sometimes it”™s months, even years, before we can start construction because of delays by these boards,” he complains. “State agencies are not that bad. It”™s the local boards that thwart construction.”
Carlson”™s work extends beyond the mid-Hudson Valley. A Texas church presented a special challenge. “The marble was coming pre-cut from Italy, so carpentry had to be exact.”
In Pennsylvania, he built a prison conjugal visit structure with compartments for 26 couples.
No southern vacation spots for this carpenter. It”™s off to Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks for ice fishing.
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be emailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.
