We often get asked, where did the name Walnut Studiolo come from? And, what is a "studiolo"? In this post, we share the origin story of our name, and what that unusual word means!
This post is written in memory of Doug Ouderkirk, who helped us name our company and get started in 2009.
What is a Studiolo?
The "lo" at the end is a diminutive, like adding "little" to the end of a word: "little" + "studio".
Why Did We Name Our Business "Walnut Studiolo"?
The story how we chose our business name is kind of a ramble...
It was 2008 and we were going through the "Great Recession" here in the US. The architecture industry where Geoff worked was really hard hit. Nobody was hiring and a lot of architects and draftspeople were out of work. Developers weren't starting new projects, and contractors weren't building, so there wasn't much in the pipeline.
Because so many were let go and there were so few jobs in architecture available, the competition was fierce. Most architects and draftsmen started up side gigs or businesses to get through the lean times (most with the tacit approval of their supervisors!).
So Geoff and his architecture colleague Doug Ouderkirk started 3 new businesses cooperatively, and pledged to help each other with all three.
The first and most obvious business they started was a shared architecture practice. They tried to capture any small and casual projects they could through referrals, friends, and family.
After a lot of brainstorming on the name, they decided to call it Walnut Architecture. "Walnut" was a triple-entendre, meaningful for a few reasons:
- Walnut wood is a beautiful and solid architectural material
- A walnut is the seed of a great and beautiful tree
- The pun really sealed the deal: as architects, they were "crazy" for "partitions" --> "nuts" for "walls" --> a "wall" - "nut"
Then Geoff and Doug each started a personal passion business, and helped each other develop and grow. As part of their collaboration, they both named their businesses Walnut also:
- Geoff started Walnut Studiolo for leather bicycle accessories. His personal passion was classic Italian cycles and their historic leather accents and accessories. As an architecture student visiting Rome, he appreciated the word studiolo as a private project room.
- Doug started Walnut De'loco for Halloween audio animatronics installations. Like a haunted house for private rental, it was primarily for homeowners who wanted outstanding Halloween decorations for trick-or-treaters, similar to homeowners who hire help to decorate their houses for Christmas.
In the end, it was Walnut Studiolo that took off (who would've guessed??!). As the economy recovered, Walnut Architecture projects tapered off and Doug decided not to commercialize his passion for haunted houses. (Take a lesson from Doug: "you don't have to monetize your joy!") Doug and Geoff ended the business collaborations as friends, but Doug was always game to help Walnut Studiolo in a pinch, incluidng letting Geoff borrow his extensive workshop tools.
In Memory of Doug Ouderkirk
Doug was a pretty special guy: optimistic, energetic, supportive, and generous. He and Geoff got along famously in creating good and functional designs: whether it was in architecture, haunted houses, or leather.
After the Walnut businesses, Doug semi-retired to property management and put on the best neighborhood haunted house in SE Portland for food bank donations for years.
In 2024, we lost Doug to brain cancer. We cherish Doug's memory and are grateful for the years we spent together.
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