Whitaker Mill Works designs and fabricates custom cabinetry in Raleigh, NC. We seek to accommodate the growing need for efficient, durable, fine quality wood products for contemporary living and working environments. We meet this demand with high quality millwork and cabinetry. Our process is driven by a combination of stewardship, sustainability, and quality. We design with consideration of the intended use, existing space, and potential changes to both.
Creativity is the incubator for intelligent production. Our craftspeople share a passion for form and function, exploring the ways in which a design can present aesthetically and serve purposefully. We are a collaboration of designers, creators, golfers, musicians, cyclists, yogis. Quirky folks doing seriously serious woodworking.
Travis Leager
Partner / Business Operations
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Travis Leager is the ship captain, making sure the decks are swabbed and the hatches are battened. He brings 10 years of experience in cabinetry manufacturing and business management to Whitaker Mill Works with an education in Finance and Banking from Appalachian State University. It is indisputable that when Travis was born he was the most striking child anyone had ever seen. He grew to be the strongest and most handsome man on the planet. He was married to his lovely wife, Lauren, in July 2012 and their son Weston was born in May 2014, carrying on the male Leagers' incredibly good looking genes. He continues a generation's legacy of community service, volunteering with several organizations near to his heart, including the Alexander Family YMCA, where he is a youth mentor and swim teacher, and Wake Relief, an outreach program serving hungry members of the community. He is the brilliant brain behind the Whitaker Mill Works woodshop/tailgate mobile and spends his fall weekends at Carter Finley Stadium watching his beloved North Carolina State Football team play. He hopes to one day build a boat to cruise around on with his family on the Intercoastal Waterway.
Richard Stephenson
Partner / Project Manager
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If Travis Leager is the ship captain, Richard Stephenson is the pirate. His wayward creativity lends itself to innovative design, ideas, and a spontaneity that keeps our shop evolving. He is the forward motion of a project, keeping a pulse from concept to installation and a craftsman with two undergraduate degrees from North Carolina State University in Agronomy and Industrial Design. Subsequently, he loves gardening, golf, being with friends and family. In Richard's words, "Choose wisely and give each moment the respect it deserves."
Julia Sturgess
Lead Designer
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Julia's passion for design was clear early on when she took it upon herself to redesign the interior of her first dollhouse – she wanted that crib custom. Over the years, she immersed herself in art classes and devoted her spare time to ballet training. By the end of high school, she knew she needed to pursue a career that flexed her creative muscles as much as her physical ones. After completing her BFA in Interior Design at Syracuse University the Vermont native packed up her sweaters in characteristically optimistic fashion and headed south to start her next chapter. As Whitaker Mill Work's Lead Designer she is the primary facilitator in bringing the client's vision to life. She likes to stay active and enjoys all things outdoors – hiking, biking, swimming, or sipping on a cold beer in the sun. Above all, she values the time spent with her family and friends, making memories with the people that matter most.