Our grandfather Gaspare Ciuffo founder of the Ciuffo furniture was one born in Palermo, Italy in 1876.
At the age of 22 he married Petrina Destefano with whom he and four children while living in Palermo, Salvatore was the oldest, Nancy then Alfonso then Philamina. In 1912 they all immigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. That is where our furniture heritage all started.
His shop produced ecclesiasticial wood sculpture for the catholic church, as well as hand carved furniture for the general public. Many of the sculptures Grandpa Ciuffo carved can still be seen in New York City.
Some locations and the subjects are: Manhattan City college-the virgin and child, St. Joseph, the 12 stations of the cross. On Mulberry Street in New York City is located the shrine to St. Elois. Also in a catholic church on Bushwick Avenue is located another madonna and child.
Gaspare and Petrina had many more children, seven of which survived. Of the boys born only Alfonso followed in his fathers footsteps and became a wood carver and earned a living with his skills.
Ciuffo and Ciuffo furniture was Gaspare and Alfonso in business in mid to late 1930s. The business lasted until 1940 when Alfonso moved upstate to Oneida, New York to work and raise his family.
Our grandfather continued to work until his death from cancer in 1943.

Alfonso Ciuffo was born in Palmero Italy, on the island of Sicily, in 1909. His family immigrated to the United States in 1912 and settled in New York City. He was educated in the New York City school system and attended schools art there.
When he was the young man, before he married, he worked as bench carver for W. J. Sloan and company. As a bench carver he was responsible for carving such things as chair legs, table legs, case goods, fret work of, apron and anything else that needed carving. His skills as a created wood carver were extensive.
During Alfonso's tenure with W. J. Sloan he was chosen to carve various items of furniture as gifts for President Roosevelt paid for by ardent supporters.
In 1934 he moved to Oneiida New York to take a job as a wood carver and furniture maker. While there he met and married Angelina Zucco.Shortly after they were married they moved to their City and he joined with his father and created Ciuffo and Ciuffo furniture. During that time their our daughter Petrina was born.
Alfonso and his family moved again to Oneida in 1940 due to the death of Angelina's father Lawrence, whom the next generation Ciuffo is named for.
Alfonso was once again employed by the Mastercraft Co. during the war. After the war he started his own business and called it Ciuffo Studio. This business survived for a few years but not long enough to really become established. His middle son Lawrence would later reestablished Ciuffo studio in San Diego CA which are eventually became L. Ciuffo Studios in 1986.

Since 1974 he has owned and operated Ciuffo Studios, a furniture restoration and re-finishing business, specializing in preservation of wood to its original color and luster.

Mr. Ciuffo is a third generation furniture craftsmen. Many of the old world methods he uses today were learned from his father and grandfather. His grandfather, Gaspare Ciuffo, was a stone sculptor in Palermo, Italy who immigrated to Manhattan and opened a furniture business in 1911. Alfonso, his father, carried on the family tradition of woodcarving. According to Mr. Ciuffo who grew up making furniture.

By the time he was twenty years old he had served his apprenticeship to emerge as a bonafide furniture builder, restorer and re-finisher. A career in the military and construction business interrupted his work until 1974 when he and his family moved to Rancho Penasquitos. He started his furniture business in his garage where before long he out grew it. This growth and expansion of Ciuffo Studios necessitated a move to larger quarters in Poway, where this burgeoning cottage industry is currently located.

At first glance his studio resembles an antique furniture store. Chairs, dressers, China cabinets, tables, headboards of various styles and color are scattered throughout the front of the building. In the back portion of the building are more chairs, tables and desks in various stages of stripping, sanding, coloring, repairing and re-finishing. Mr. Ciuffo's clientele is not limited to San Diego residents. The reputation and integrity of his craftsmanship is promoted by word of mouth and quite often he does work for people in another states, as well as San Francisco and Beverly Hills.

According to Mr. Ciuffo "The best way is to go and see the work being done, and any samples at hand. Look for someone who knows and understands quality. The main question is how do you want your furniture to last and if the piece of furniture has intrinsic or sentimental value. You should select the best qualified shop to do your work."

In addition to his desire to restore the functionality of furniture, Mr. Ciuffo endeavors to make each piece reflect the exact period from which came. He can tell by visual inspection where the piece was made and in what year, depending on the type of wood, finish and style. The oldest piece Mr. Ciuffo has worked on is a 1690 Italian armchair.

"I can match the color and finish as close as possible," he says. "It's not always easy because there are no chemical formulas for furniture re-finishing. It is all done visually."

His visual acuity is so fine tuned Mr. Ciuffo can tell exactly the type of wood used and whether or not the antique is genuine. The same type of wood is not always used in making a specific piece of furniture and knowing the difference is important to the quality of the finish and restoration process.

"I had a tea cart from a San Diego customer and the top of the cart was made from mahogany while the rest of the wood was poplar," he explained. "In this case extra steps needed to be taken to treat the wood to take the color evenly and then look like mahogany."

While most of his work is re-finishing or restoring the entire piece of furniture, Mr. Ciuffo, unlike other businesses, will do spot color matching and re-finishing. "If someone has, for example, a dresser that only needs the top re-done I will take the job and match the color and finish to the rest of the piece," he states. "It is not an easy process and most refinishers will either advise that the whole piece needs to be re-done or will reject the project entirely."

The average work time to completely restore a piece of furniture is four weeks. Some projects will take longer depending on what has to be done. When applying new finishes it is best not to rush the process.

Mr. Ciuffo brings to each project a combination of expertise and common sense. "I asked myself if I were making the piece of furniture what would I have done? I literally put myself back in that era to determine what tools and finishes were used and then reproduce those methods," he explains. "In order to understand how to successfully refinished any piece of furniture it is best to know how the furniture was made and first finished."

According to Mr. Ciuffo, many years ago, before furniture was in great demand, tung oil, linseed the oil and vegetable oils were used to keep the wood from drying and cracking. From the 16th century to the president many other methods have been added to ensure proper protection of the beauty and longevity of furniture, including: shellac (natural or bleached), beeswax, varnishes, French polishes and lacquers (clear and opaque).

"The majority of re-finishing, sold at retail stores today," he advises, "are especially designed for the novice and will not reproduce the original finish on most furniture."

Mr. Ciuffo is quick to caution others on how to properly maintain the quality of their furniture. For example, it is believed that the use of toothpaste will remove white water stains.

"I think that toothpaste was designed for brushing tea depends not for polishing furniture," he asserts. "Actually, the ability to use toothpaste to remove water rings really depends upon the finish and the luster or sheen involved. It is true that in most cases water rings can be removed but it requires that the entire surface be rubbed closely out and re-waxed."

The best action decay, he advises is to collect professional and gave an opinion. Sometimes, at middle of a repair can be made before a ruin surface requires expensive re-finishing.

Mr. Ciuffo has found that most furniture is not ruined by cigarette burns or white water rings, but by improper repair, cleaning or polishing. When oils, spray waxes or water are used to clean the wood surface they will penetrate into the wood and cause the wood to slowly swell up. Eventually, the finish will begin to rise, crack and checker. Once this occurs a new finish is the only solution.

"The best prevention for furniture deterioration is to wax twice a year," says Mr. Ciuffo. "Once a piece of furniture is waxed, any dirt or residue that adheres to the surface can be easily washed off with a damp rag, always drying afterwards. Periodically washing with soap and warm water is also good. After washing in this manner always re-wax. Remember, waxing is a preparation for cleaning."

He recommends using any paste wax with paraffin or beeswax for the waxing process.

Following in his ancestors with a, Mr. Ciuffo is keeping this dying art of furniture refinishing and restoration alive by working closely with training apprentices and journeymen. He carefully selects his apprentice candidates, always looking for those who share the same love for furniture and willingness to work hard.

Mr. Ciuffo has expanded, at the request of his clientele, the services offered by his studio to include kitchen cabinet refinishing. Nonetheless furniture will remain his first love as he prepares to author a book about the history and proper care of furniture.