Today, finely-crafted tables and built-ins are cornerstones of Xavier Garcia’s Sarasota-based design and carpentry company. “The act of building something that didn’t exist previously, and having it solve some kind of problem, is very satisfying,” Garcia says. It was a concept Garcia first experienced while working toward a bachelor of design architecture degree from the University of Florida in 2003. After graduating, Garcia returned to Sarasota in 2004. He worked for his father’s design-build architecture and contracting firms, Las Casitas Design and Marazul Building Company. Then, the recession of 2008 hit and the work dried up, Garcia says, leading him to transition to handyman-type jobs and finish carpentry. Ultimately, Garcia found his niche as a self-employed carpenter and founded Ninzan Studio in 2008. The company now serves Sarasota and Manatee counties, including areas such as Lakewood Ranch and the barrier islands. “I really enjoy the hands-on aspects of carpentry, and this allows me to utilize most of my on-the-job architectural training,” Garcia says.

NINZAN STUDIO AND NINZAN BUILD, 1490 20TH ST., SARASOTA, 941-702-6076. NINZANSTUDIO.COM, NINZANBUILD.COM.

For a solid decade, Ninzan Studio provided finish carpentry, cabinetry installs, exterior carpentry (such as arbors and wood decks), window and door installations, and custom woodworking to clients. In 2018, Garcia expanded—earning his state-certified general contractor license and founding the sister company, Ninzan Build, LLC. “With this addition, we continued to do the field carpentry work but now we could take on larger jobs—which required permits and additional trades such as plumbing, electrical, mechanical, etc.,” Garcia says.

Beginning in 2020, Garcia took over the Wood Street Studio location at 1490 20th St. in Sarasota after former workshop owner Dale Rieke retired. There, Garcia and his team of five craftsmen now create custom wood furniture, bespoke cabinetry and architectural millwork (and they bring in several trusted contractors for larger projects). “We are narrowing down our focus to shop-built woodwork and installation of that work in conjunction with general contracting jobs through Ninzan Build,” Garcia says. “Ninzan Studio also offers design and shop drawing services so that clients can see their projects on paper before any work is done.” Those projects are diverse and intricate. One notable undertaking was a 2016 guest suite renovation on Siesta Key. Ninzan handled the interior buildout of an above-garage guest room, the interior framing and trim carpentry, and the fabrication and installation of a set of walnut-framed pecky cypress barn doors and cypress floating shelves. “That project was a fun one. The pecky cypress material was supplied by the owner (their family has a large amount stockpiled in their family ranch in Wauchula, Florida),” Garcia says. “We did not draw anything for this project but instead created mockups and sample boards to push the design process. The owner had a good sense of what they wanted and we helped them achieve it.” For this home, Ninzan also embarked on a woodworking and deck project. Garcia and his team crafted a reclaimed barn beam fireplace mantle, a solid cypress prayer bench, an interlocking PVC rooftop deck, and pecky cypress walls and cabinetry in the kitchen and laundry room.

Garcia is also immensely proud of the work his team did on “The Beneva House.” Ninzan tackled the exterior and interior trim, as well as the finish punch out. The crew worked closely with the builders from Bay Point Construction to install the entry-door system, the interior doors, the door hardware, the baseboards, the custom fireplace shiplap wall and mantle, the exterior beams, the columns, the ceilings and the siding. Ninzan also constructed the children’s bedroom built-ins to match the distinct cabinetry by Taylor James. “The Beneva House project was mainly trim carpentry, including interior wood ceilings and box beams, along with exterior trim elements such as column wraps, box beams and siding,” Garcia says. A number of other artistic projects from the Ninzan crew have included a custom dining table and bench, fabricated from locally-harvested rosewood slabs with an ash base in black dye stain finish (all three slabs were sequence-milled from the same tree); a dining table in flat-sawn and quartered ash with a natural finish and white dye stain; and an entire renovation of a 1970s-era ranch home along the Manatee River. “I guess most of what I learned in architecture school was: given a set of parameters, solve a problem in a creative and meaningful way,” Garcia says. “Oftentimes, the process is as important as the end result.”