Since 2003, David Pruitt has been hand crafting intricate churches and log cabins. Pruitt, founder of the woodworking venture he calls Another Time ‘N Place, provided insight into his creations.
“This all started in 2003 when and my wife (Silvia) and I were doing Christmas shopping and my wife saw a Christmas village. She said, ‘Can you make me one of those?’,” said Pruitt, a native of Macon County. “So, I got home and put a Christmas village together, with cotton on it for snow.”
Pruitt started making more log homes and eventually little villages and churches. He has even crafted old general stores. People started buying them.
“I go to a lot of craft shows and I will see something and think ‘I can make that.’ Or when I’m driving down the road, I’ll see a church I like and take a picture and then make that. There’s not much deviation between my churches, unless one might be very elaborate.”
Pruitt, a painter by trade who also constructed two homes, has always been interested in working with his hands. As a painter, he found that he had some free time so he would get out into his garage and work on crafting his creations.
Each one takes time due to the details involved. “A medium-sized house takes about two days, not working a straight eight hours but working six hours a day,” he said.
He hand slices each shingle for the roofs and also makes the stained glass windows in the churches by hand. Plus, he adds lights in all of the buildings.
“When I’m finished, I know the building I made will make someone happy,” said Pruitt. “And it makes me feel good when a person says that the church reminds them of their church or reminds them of [the area] where they grew up.”
At December’s Cowee Christmas and Balsam Bee, Pruitt displayed many of his creations. Some of the churches were decorated for Christmas.
You can see and buy these intricate creations at various festivals in and around Franklin. One of Pruitt’s medium-sized creations sells for $110, while larger ones are upwards of around $300. Interested parties can email Pruitt at [email protected].