John Makepeace OBE (1939)

Biography

John Makepeace OBE FCSD (born John Makepeace Smith; 6 July 1939) is a British furniture designer and maker. Makepeace was born in Solihull, Warwickshire. He bought Parnham House, Dorset in 1976 and founded the Parnham Trust and the School for Craftsmen in Wood (opened 19 September 1977, later to become Parnham College) to provide integrated courses in design, making and management for aspiring furniture-makers, alongside but separately from his own furniture workshops. Makepeace ceased running the Trust in 2000 when it moved to the new campus at Hooke Park under a new director who handed the premises over to the Architectural Association, the international school of architecture, for their practical modules. Makepeace sold Parnham House in 2001 to Michael and Emma Treichl, who carried out extensive renovations, before the fire in 2017 and Michael's suicide. Makepeace works predominantly for private clients, but previously designed furniture for the retail market including Habitat, Heals and Liberty's.