About
Craftsman & Artist
My roots in Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest run deep. I’m a fourth-generation Portlander – and a love of family and place has shaped my journey as an artist, craftsman, custom cabinetry and furniture maker.
An appreciation for the arts, for using our hands, and for beauty in our surroundings runs through my family. My great-grandfather and grandfather were rug merchants in Portland, and my grandfather hand-repaired fine imported rugs. My father’s work as an architect deeply influenced me, and my mother, an artist, imparted her love of creativity to my siblings and me. I use my great-grandfather’s tools in my shop today. They connect me to our family’s story.
My kids are now my inspiration, motivating the work I do. And the Pacific Northwest, where I have grown up and that my family is content to call home, provides the natural materials that inspire the furniture pieces I create.
I love coffee, books, music. I love producing objects that become a backdrop for the things we do and care about. Communal pieces that people gather around, put a cup on, take a book from. Where they write a letter or play a record. Benches, bookshelves, coffee tables, dining tables, record consoles. I’m passionate about designing and making beautiful, functional, heirloom-quality furniture and custom cabinetry that becomes treasured by the user.
about dinihanian design build
After studying multimedia design and honing my furniture-making craft through a custom furniture studio apprenticeship in San Francisco, I started Dinihanian Design Build in Portland in 2016. Working with a small crew and a network of local artisan partners, including turners, metal workers, and finishers, I design and build one-of-a-kind custom cabinetry. Sustainability and local sourcing are important to my process as a furniture maker.
handcrafted, solid wood furniture
Sparrow Frances is a line of fine handcrafted wood furniture created by maker and designer Nathan Dinihanian. It is inspired by the spirit and materials of the Pacific Northwest and explores an interplay between the traditional and modern with clean, straightforward designs that complement any aesthetic.
Our Craftsmen
John Ballesteros
John Ballesteros comes from a family line of both artists and craftsmen who influenced his love for creating with his hands at an early age. At age 17, John began working in his uncle’s cabinet making shop where he learned the foundation of his trade over several years. It was there he discovered his passion for design and craftsmanship and was instilled with his incredibly strong work ethic. Looking to continue honing and further his skills, he later went on to work at a well known and highly respected woodworking shop in Santa Monica, Ca between 1992-1998. Within the first two years he became the shop foreman leading a team of skilled craftsman and worked with renowned architects such as Frank Gehry, Callas Shortridge, Jon Jerde and Richard Meir. In 1998, with 13 years of woodworking experience under his belt, John ventured out on his own and opened Ballesteros Woodwork in West Los Angeles where he continued to work with some of the most sought after architects, designers and builders in the Los Angeles area. Since moving to Oregon John has been involved in a number of high profile projects, and will head our new cabinet division.
Seth Wilson
Moments preserved with timeless imagery — authentic, elegant, and entirely yours.
Andrew Riehle
Andrew has over 30 years of experience in the world of cabinetry, having owned and operated shops in Hawaii, Seattle and Colorado he’s done work for some of the most stunning homes in the west. Andrew, or Andy as he will ask you to call him after you meet him, is our estimator and project manager and all around “whatever it takes to do it right” person. A true entrepreneur at heart he’s launched multiple business outside of cabinetry and has the widest ranging and wildest resume of the team. His first fell in love with woodworking watching his father create furniture in his garage shop. True craftsmen are born with the need to create, and while the hands on aspect of woodworking is not where he excels now his knowledge of the process and desire to always over deliver helps inspire the crew.