We are creating works of art and furnishings in this vintage furniture shop, the L. The shop was moved from Lynchburg, VA to Buena Vista, CO in 2005. Come in to observe the shop in operation; help out with monitoring, narrating, guiding, reconstruction, maintenance and cleaning of the museum; or schedule time to actually work in the vintage shop [supervised, by the hour or by the day] on your own
woodworking projects. The Moser Legacy Furniture Company also hosts "The Collegiate Valley Woodcrafters' Guild" which meets at the Moser Shop at 7:00 am (breakfast served) on the fourth Saturday of every month. The purpose of the Guild is to foster the open exchange of woodworking experiences, techniques, tricks, and tips; to provide buying leverage to lower the collective costs of raw materials, tools, equipment, hardware, etc.; to share patterns, plans, ideas and ideologies; introducing young people to the potential pleasure and profit of handcrafting and preservation; and to genuinely enhance your enjoyment of the sport of handcrafting wood artifacts, recycling, restoring and/or repurposing found items, preserving trade skills and stimulating a healthy learning environment to perpetuate these goals. Come in to find out how you can participate. The workshop was first assembled by Luther O. Moser, Sr. in Lynchburg, Virginia, who founded the L. Moser Furniture Company. Some of the early pieces of equipment, the 200+ year old lathe for example, were no doubt and was originally powered with water, although not in the shop as first constructed by the senior Mr. Moser. Today, the line-shaft and flat-belt driven shop has been moved to Buena Vista, Colorado and faithfully restored to the way Luther Luther O. originally set it up. Moser specialized in the faithful, and now collectable, reproductions of 17th, 18th and 19th century Victorian furniture created by master designers and craftsmen such as Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite, Thomas Sheraton, Duncan Phyfe, Charles Eastlake, and others. Moser’s sons, Charles and Luther, Jr. took over the business in the late 40’s after returning from WWII (from the Philippines and the beaches of Normandy respectively) and operated it together until the late 1950s. At that time there was a shortage of willing and capable hand-craftsmen so led to the gradual re-focusing of the business, was redirected redirecting it from furniture to boat building. Charles Moser always continued to create furniture reproductions in the Moser workshop until 2005 when he retired at the age of 87. Luther (L.O.) Moser, Jr. remained with the business as the master finisher and applied the finishes until his retirement in his the mid 1980’s. Ron Southard, visionary, preservationist and "wannabe" woodworker with Luther Moser, Jr. acquired, relocated and reconstructed this 100 year old vintage workshop in Buena Vista when Charles Moser retired. The shop began operating again, at first only blending and bottling Moser's "Early Virginian Furniture Polish", and later actually creating handcrafted wood items, in 2010 with the museum opening to the public in June of 2012. Luther, Jr. has a summer home in Buena Vista where he spends the summers in the Upper Arkansas Valley whenever possible. His homes, both in Colorado and in Virginia are veritable museums of Moser originals. During his visit in the summer of 2012, Luther not only contributed another interesting Moser-original to the museum, but carefully reviewed all of the displays and verified the authenticity of both the annotated displays and the living-museum shop reconstruction. Later, in the winter of 2012-13, Luther's grandson, Andrew Moser of Durango, Colorado, was a fascinated guest of the museum enjoying a review of his grandfather's legacy.
