A visionary carpenter shares indelible stories on building a life
worth living, revealing powerful lessons about work, creativity, and
design through his experience constructing some of New York's most
iconic spaces.
For forty years, Mark Ellison has worked in the most beautiful homes
you've never seen, specializing in rarefied, lavish, and challenging
projects for the most demanding of clients. He built a staircase that
the architect Santiago Calatrava called a masterpiece. He constructed
the sculpted core of Sky House, which Interior Design named "Apartment
of the Decade." His projects have included the homes of David Bowie,
Robin Williams, and others whose names he cannot reveal. He is regarded
by many as the best carpenter in New York.
Building: A Carpenter's Notes on Life & the Art of Good Work tells the
story of an unconventional education and how fulfillment can be found in
doing something well for decades. Ellison takes us on a tour of the
lofts, penthouses, and townhomes of New York's elite, before they're
camera-ready. In a singular voice, he offers a window into learning to
live meaningfully along the way. From staircases that would be deadly if
built as designed and algae-eating snails boiled to escargot in a
penthouse pond, to the deceptive complexity of minimalist design,
Building exposes the tangled wiring, scrapped blueprints, and
outlandish demands that characterize life in the high-stakes world of
luxury construction.
Blending Ellison's musings on work and creativity with immersive
storytelling and original sketches, photos, and illustrations,
Building is a meditation on crafting a life worth living, and a
delightful philosophical inquiry beyond the facades that we all live
behind.
