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WORKING: Bohemian Stoneworks moves to town, as local man returns home
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| CONCRETE — The Bohemian Stoneworks crew, from left to right: Carson Chase, Patrick Lounibus, Rob Berry, Lynne Frenna, Bailey the dog, and owner Patrick Miller. - Photo by George Snyder |
Sebastopol native glad to rejoin community
by George Snyder
Sonoma West Staff Writer
SEBASTOPOL — For most business people, things going down the drain can be bad news, but for Pat Miller, owner of Bohemian Stoneworks, well designed sinks and countertops, including drains that work, are a boon.
A former high tech computer designer who got into his current line of work after leaving a lucrative high tech film career, Miller designs and creates custom high-end concrete sinks, countertops, tables and other high-end home furnishings.
A Sebastopol native and Analy High School graduate, Miller worked in computer aided design, capturing and placing human motion into video games and such film creations as “Matrix 2 and 3,” “Final Fantasy,” and “Shrek,” before starting a career as a concrete artisan.
“Business has been pretty good,” said Miller, 50, in the new Depot Street digs his business has occupied since August, in the former location of the Imperial Door Company.
With five employees, Miller said his new space is big enough to take in twice or three times that number.
He hopes that can happen if he is successful in adding a new focus to include more moderately priced off the floor creations as well continue to offer expensive custom work in the homes of well-to-do clients.
“We are expanding our line so that we can sell showroom goods to middle class customers instead of just doing high-end custom work. We’re hoping to add jobs as we do that,” Miller said.
And adding jobs, said Miller, who was born in the “old” Palm Drive Hospital, is a big part of the reason he moved to Sebastopol. There are also, he said, issues of community as well.
“I got more serious about the business,” Miller said, “and started looking for the best place, which for me, was back home in Sebastopol, where I was born and raised.”
Miller’s father, Eugene, who he credits for jumpstarting his career as a concrete artisan, and his mother, Patti, live in Sebastopol.
“My business went from my garage, to a shop near Dillon Beach in a low rent area, and that was great for seven years,” he said. “But it was hard to get customers, materials and employees to come all the way out there. It’s not the way to do business.”
“Besides, there was the lack of community involvement in the boonies …well. I wanted to get more involved in community and that for me was Sebastopol,” he said, adding, “now that I’m located in town I keep running into people who are old friends of my family.”
Miller said Sebastopol, including city officials, have been very welcoming to him, particularly given current economic challenges.
In addition he said his deep interest in running a “green business” fits right in with the ethos of Sebastopol. In addition to having some of his employees biking to work, and spending their lunch money in local eateries, Miller is conscious about the use of industrial toxins.
“Before I got into high-tech, I got my degree in animal science, specializing in aquatic culture at UC Davis,” adding that he had worked at the Bodega Marine Lab, which, ironically used video and computers to map behavior changes wrought by sub-lethal doses of toxins in animals. That work, he said , lead to his movie industry career.
Given that Miller considers his business a “green” enterprise using only non-toxic sealers, as well as recycled glass, in his work.
As an example Miller displayed a table he’d created from recycled wine bottles and concrete. The furniture, he said, wowed them at the recent West Coast Green Trade Show in San Francisco earlier this month.
“They were really impressed,” he said.
Sand and gravel for his concrete is local, taken from Austin Creek, material brought down by the rains from the previous winter while all of the water used in his operation is completely recycled. “Nothing gets outside,” he said.
In addition, Miller uses a concrete formula that gives off 62 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 82 percent less energy to make.
“Eight percent of the world’s CO2 emissions come from cement,” he said.
Miller, who is also a graduate of the University of California, Davis, began crafting high-end, designer sinks, kitchen counter tops, and fireplaces when he decided to upgrade his Occidental home while working as a computer designer.
“I started getting interested in using concrete in interiors after I had made enough money to begin remodeling my home in Occidental back in 1995,” he said. “I looked at a lot of catalogues including some design magazines and saw concrete being used inside. It caught my eye.”
That’s where his dad, a retired structural civil engineer with a specialty in concrete, came in. Working together, both men figured out a new, proprietary, ultra dense formula and reinforcing methods they put to use in Miller’s home.
“I built concrete countertops, a fireplace and tables,” Miller said. “They came out really nice.”
His first professional job was for Tom Gonnella, the owner of the former West Pole Restaurant in Occidental.
Meanwhile, Miller is looking forward to doing business in Sebastopol and hopefully helping to boost the city’s bottom, economic line. And even though he’s been in business in town for only a short while, he says, he likes what he sees.
“I attended the Economic Summit and I was really impressed,” he said. “It was very useful for people in business’s like mine. I’ve also joined in the city’s Façade Improvement Program and it has been very successful. Since I’ve moved here I’ve also joined the Chamber of Commerce.”
“Being part of downtown is invigorating,” Miller added, “I’m excited about it.”
A former high tech computer designer who got into his current line of work after leaving a lucrative high tech film career, Miller designs and creates custom high-end concrete sinks, countertops, tables and other high-end home furnishings.
A Sebastopol native and Analy High School graduate, Miller worked in computer aided design, capturing and placing human motion into video games and such film creations as “Matrix 2 and 3,” “Final Fantasy,” and “Shrek,” before starting a career as a concrete artisan.
“Business has been pretty good,” said Miller, 50, in the new Depot Street digs his business has occupied since August, in the former location of the Imperial Door Company.
With five employees, Miller said his new space is big enough to take in twice or three times that number.
He hopes that can happen if he is successful in adding a new focus to include more moderately priced off the floor creations as well continue to offer expensive custom work in the homes of well-to-do clients.
“We are expanding our line so that we can sell showroom goods to middle class customers instead of just doing high-end custom work. We’re hoping to add jobs as we do that,” Miller said.
And adding jobs, said Miller, who was born in the “old” Palm Drive Hospital, is a big part of the reason he moved to Sebastopol. There are also, he said, issues of community as well.
“I got more serious about the business,” Miller said, “and started looking for the best place, which for me, was back home in Sebastopol, where I was born and raised.”
Miller’s father, Eugene, who he credits for jumpstarting his career as a concrete artisan, and his mother, Patti, live in Sebastopol.
“My business went from my garage, to a shop near Dillon Beach in a low rent area, and that was great for seven years,” he said. “But it was hard to get customers, materials and employees to come all the way out there. It’s not the way to do business.”
“Besides, there was the lack of community involvement in the boonies …well. I wanted to get more involved in community and that for me was Sebastopol,” he said, adding, “now that I’m located in town I keep running into people who are old friends of my family.”
Miller said Sebastopol, including city officials, have been very welcoming to him, particularly given current economic challenges.
In addition he said his deep interest in running a “green business” fits right in with the ethos of Sebastopol. In addition to having some of his employees biking to work, and spending their lunch money in local eateries, Miller is conscious about the use of industrial toxins.
“Before I got into high-tech, I got my degree in animal science, specializing in aquatic culture at UC Davis,” adding that he had worked at the Bodega Marine Lab, which, ironically used video and computers to map behavior changes wrought by sub-lethal doses of toxins in animals. That work, he said , lead to his movie industry career.
Given that Miller considers his business a “green” enterprise using only non-toxic sealers, as well as recycled glass, in his work.
As an example Miller displayed a table he’d created from recycled wine bottles and concrete. The furniture, he said, wowed them at the recent West Coast Green Trade Show in San Francisco earlier this month.
“They were really impressed,” he said.
Sand and gravel for his concrete is local, taken from Austin Creek, material brought down by the rains from the previous winter while all of the water used in his operation is completely recycled. “Nothing gets outside,” he said.
In addition, Miller uses a concrete formula that gives off 62 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 82 percent less energy to make.
“Eight percent of the world’s CO2 emissions come from cement,” he said.
Miller, who is also a graduate of the University of California, Davis, began crafting high-end, designer sinks, kitchen counter tops, and fireplaces when he decided to upgrade his Occidental home while working as a computer designer.
“I started getting interested in using concrete in interiors after I had made enough money to begin remodeling my home in Occidental back in 1995,” he said. “I looked at a lot of catalogues including some design magazines and saw concrete being used inside. It caught my eye.”
That’s where his dad, a retired structural civil engineer with a specialty in concrete, came in. Working together, both men figured out a new, proprietary, ultra dense formula and reinforcing methods they put to use in Miller’s home.
“I built concrete countertops, a fireplace and tables,” Miller said. “They came out really nice.”
His first professional job was for Tom Gonnella, the owner of the former West Pole Restaurant in Occidental.
Meanwhile, Miller is looking forward to doing business in Sebastopol and hopefully helping to boost the city’s bottom, economic line. And even though he’s been in business in town for only a short while, he says, he likes what he sees.
“I attended the Economic Summit and I was really impressed,” he said. “It was very useful for people in business’s like mine. I’ve also joined in the city’s Façade Improvement Program and it has been very successful. Since I’ve moved here I’ve also joined the Chamber of Commerce.”
“Being part of downtown is invigorating,” Miller added, “I’m excited about it.”
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