About Us

Green River Woods was founded by Matt back in 2008.  Matt grew up in southern Vermont along a very green river in the post and beam saltbox home designed by his parents. His dad was a Thoreau scholar who loved being in the woods. Matt began working as a carpenter in the summers from the age of 13, with forays into literature and philosophy in college and salmon fishing in Alaska, before moving on to trim and custom cabinetry in Asheville in 2005.  

His family has roots in Asheville going back to 1870. Matt’s great-great-great grandfather ran a hardware store in Pack Square, Penniman Bros. & Co. with his two sons (later run for a spell by their wives) which supplied building materials, early model cars and a million other useful and essential things. W.T. Penniman was a strong proponent and supporter of the original city rail system. Matt’s great-grandfather came here for forestry school (the first such school in the nation) and stayed in the boarding house run by his great-great-grandmother, falling in love with her daughter who (family legend has it) used to play with Cornelia Vanderbilt before going on to college at Vassar (where she secretly helped organized for women’s suffrage). Matt’s wife lived and taught in Brevard in the 90’s before hopping off the Appalachian trail to pursue a teaching career here, bringing Matt down from New England with her.      

Green River Woods is now proudly a living wage certified employer, but still very much a small and singular operation. Through our furniture design and personal interactions with clients, urban wood salvage and urban logging practice, slab sales and Bee Good Wood Oil® and Wood Butter production, I am grateful to support and be supported by a community economy of locally-rooted families and artisans, arborists, sawyers, farmers, makers and Asheville beekeepers.