A Couple’s Love of Modern Design Inspires a Mushrooming Log Furniture Business
Beck & Cap offers a unique take on log furniture
Beck & Cap’s modern design fuses Scandinavian and Japanese elements with clean lines and warm textures to create sculp- tural pieces that feel at home in any aesthetic. | Photo: Jana Roach
“The business was accidental,” explains Jana Roach of Beck & Cap. The Montana-based bespoke furniture company, named for Jana and husband Tanner’s sons, was born out of their love for modern design. “Tanner has always been creative and loves working with wood,” she recalls, saying it all started when she asked him to make a few large mushrooms for a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired display at her vintage market.
All of the pieces, from the mushrooms to the chairs and coffee tables, truly are functional art — carefully crafted, durable and beautiful. “We have the tulip chairs at our table right now,” Tanner says, “and it’s great because the kids can’t destroy them.” | Photo: Mckenna Munden
“I had never carved anything with a chainsaw before that,” Tanner Roach says, laughing. The mushrooms were an instant hit, and people attending the market flocked to Jana asking if they were for sale. Her social post gained the same response: “Where can I buy those mushrooms?” Soon the couple was taking pre-orders and delivering trailers full of carved fungi to metropolitan areas in Texas, Utah and California. The mushrooms grew into a business.
Photo: Mckenna Munden
Tanner began adding furniture pieces to sell at the markets when an interior designer reached out asking for a functional, sculptural piece. The duo created their next hit: the Tulip chair. Inspired by the look of the midcentury original with a smooth curving back, the piece fits into a number of aesthetics as it blurs the line between art and furniture. “We go after sculptural pieces that can stand alone and make a huge statement, or they can be a chair around a classic dining room table,” says Jana.
The duo has recently added commissioned heirloom furniture to their portfolio. | Photo: Jana Roach
With an emphasis on sustainable design, Beck & Cap creates heirloom-quality pieces such as the museum-like Canyon coffee table, which incorporates a 12-inch deep slab resting on a handmade iron frame. “It feels amazing to know it is wood that has been here forever, and it’s not going anywhere; it’s literally a piece of history, a piece of Montana, on display in someone’s home,” explains Jana.
“What Tanner does is so artistic,” says Jana. “He has the physical strength to wield a chainsaw and the conceptual eye to see the design in a massive piece of wood.” | Photo: Jana Roach
The couple works together on iterations of a new design, often referencing minimalist elements in Scandinavian, Midcentury Modern or Japanese furniture. Then, Tanner heads to the shop to bring the idea to life. The result transcends several styles and offers a unique take on modern design. “I really love primitive, early American shapes,” says Jana, referencing their McCall chair. “Everything works really well together. A lot of those styles share an emphasis on minimalism, and our pieces just shine in that space,” Jana suggests.
Once the shape is refined, Tanner applies a natural finish or his own whitewash formula. | Photo: Jana Roach
Happenstance befell the couple again when in 2020 renowned interior designer and HGTV personality Leanne Ford reached out to Honey Home & Design, a vintage-chic store co-owned by Jana on Kalispell’s Main Street. A couch highlighted in the shop’s Instagram feed caught Ford’s attention, and during the conversation Jana ventured, “If you are interested, my husband also carves this wood furniture …” Ford ended up buying several pieces, and Tanner was featured on the show. The episode aired, mushrooming their business beyond expectation as hundreds of orders poured in overnight.
This museum-like Canyon coffee table in tones of rich black and brown incorporates the charred-burned process of shou sugi ban. | Photo: Jana Roach
While their business’ growth has been monumental, the Roaches attribute much of their success to the roots of good design principles and proximity to nature. “If we didn’t live here among the mountains, we wouldn’t be doing this,” Jana says. “It is such a peaceful place to live and work. People think ‘Montana’ and think rustic, taxidermy and all that, but Montana also embraces the organic modern feel, and it is very inspiring to us.”
Hand-carved sculptural furniture out of northwestern Montana, Beck & Cap creates custom furniture for clients across the country. Their organic modern creations have been featured on HGTV’s “Home Again with the Fords” and offer a unique take on traditional log furniture. Beck & Cap leans toward Scandinavian design with clean lines and warm textures—as well as the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi—seeing beauty in the imperfection of nature.
Like most working artist’s stories, Tanner Roach spent many years earning a living before a right-place, right-time event led to his now thriving business designing and creating heirloom quality modern log furniture with an emphasis on sustainable design. | Photo: Jana Roach
PHOTOS: Jana Roach
As Seen in ML’s September/October 2023 Issue
