Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it was a dad who recognized a need to craft a comfortable rocker to rock his sons to sleep when they were babies. Today, those two boys join their father to create that same rocker, dubbed the Lookout Mountain Rocker, for others in their Wood Studio business. The dad, Randy Cochran, runs the office in Fort Payne, Alabama and brothers Keith and Dylan work together at the shop in Arley.
“Keith and I pretty much do all of the production,” says Dylan Cochran. “I think [dad] worked on the first one for a couple of years and refined the design over time. When Keith and I began working full time in 2001, we changed the process to make the assembly more fluid.”
The handsome Lookout Mountain Rocker sells for $3,950 and features a fully suspended seat and back made of hand stretched saddle leather. It’s available in dark brown and saddle tan leather. Woods used to craft the rocker include walnut, cherry, maple, red oak and white oak.
“We make this rocker out of any Southern native hardwood. Our most popular is walnut,” says Dylan. “We are very particular about only using air dried lumber because it makes for a more stable product in the end. We usually just stack up the wood and cover it in the yard for a couple of years to make sure it dries slowly. “
Other signature furniture produced by Wood Studio includes a Beersheba Swing, Crane Chair, Big Wills Valley Stools and Little Wills Valley Stools. Every piece is 100% handmade by the Cochrans.
Check out all of their offerings on their website.
