Creations are a highly developed wood-working skill that some people consider a form of art
Published in the Nov. 26 – Dec. 9, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
For several generations, South Valley families have made an annual holiday trek to Don and Margaret Bianucci’s Christmas tree farm located at the end of Yvonne Drive in the heart of Paradise Valley, a 10 minute drive west of Morgan Hill. In recent years, Don’s customers have found an additional incentive to visit the farm — the artisanship of the tree farmer’s intricately layered wood bowls and vases that he spends long hours crafting during the year.
After finding their perfect Christmas tree, the customers come into the art and antique gallery and gaze at tables where Don’s wood creations sit. The thought and detail of craftsmanship that goes into each piece makes them seem worthy to be shown in a museum. Three years ago, he started selling his bowls, containers and vases as a sideline to his Christmas tree sales during December.
“The first year, we had a few people purchase them,” he said. “I think the people bought them for themselves and not for gifts. The comments I got were that they enjoyed the piece and wanted it for themselves.”
Don’s talent goes beyond the usual wood-working skill of simply carving out a wood bowl with a lathe. Like assembling a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, he spends many hours of detail work putting pieces of various types of wood — oak, walnut, cherry — together in beautiful patterns that catch the eye with stunning brilliance. One piece he completed recently had more than 400 pieces. What he does is a highly developed wood-working skill that some people consider a form of art.
“There aren’t many people, at least in this area, who are doing segmented work,” he said. “There could be, but I’m not aware of it. To me, this is my passion, creating something I think up and make a crude sketch of and start putting it together. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done.”
For Don, the wood-working serves as a hobby to pass the time in his retirement years after leaving General Electric’s nuclear power division in San Jose. Margaret encourages him to find a high-end store to sell his creations because they’re so unique and of such good quality.
“My wife keeps saying I need to go up to Santana Row (in San Jose) or one of those places and see if there’s a store that would take them on consignment,” he said.
The Christmas tree farm also is a passion for him, started in 1980 and selling four types of trees: Douglas Fir, Monterey Pine, Coast Redwood, and Incense Cedar.
“Everyone comes and asks me which trees smell the best,” he said with a grin. “And I tell them, none of my trees smell. Some have a better aroma than others.”
He recommends the Monterey pine and the incense cedar trees for people who want to have the most intense scent to fill their homes. The tree farm opens for the holiday season the day after Thanksgiving and is open every day except Mondays during the weeks running up to Christmas.
Wandering through the tree farm, visitors feel as if they’re taking a wander through a playful forest located on several acres overlooking the rolling hills and terrain of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Don provides saws for people to cut down their tree. People can purchase hot chocolate or hot spiced cider for a dollar a cup to keep them warm as they search for the forest. He encourages people to make a fun trip, and sometimes people bring picnic lunches and champagne bottles to enjoy in the Christmas tree forest as they find their perfect pine. Some have a tailgate party in the parking lot.
The Bianuccis focus on giving their customers a purer tree buying experience, and refuse to go commercialized with the bells and whistles of Christmas tree lots.
“There’s only two things we can offer here. We can offer hopefully a fresher tree than you can get on a pre-cut lot,” Don said. “And the second thing we can offer is an experience out in the country. And if that’s not an experience that you’re willing to partake in, I guess maybe you should go to Home Depot and find a dead tree. This isn’t so commercial. Some of the farms have the train rides and this and that. We don’t have any of that here and I don’t want any of that here. We want this to be low key and make sure people have fun when they get their Christmas tree and enjoy the scenery.”
Don and Margaret have seen many Morgan Hill families come for many years who have made the annual visit farm for the annual tradition.
“Some of them came with their kids long ago and now the kids are coming with their kids, and that is really neat,” Don said. “It’s become a tradition. After 34 years you’ve seen the gamut.”
Asked what makes a perfect Christmas tree, Don shrugged and said it really comes down to personal taste.
“The longer I’ve been in this business, the less I know about what people want,” he said. “It’s amazing, I once thought I knew what people should buy. And the more I’m in it, the less I’m convinced. I see some people take a tree that I wouldn’t cut and take home. I try not to make too many recommendations. It depends on a person’s choice.”
