About Clar Construction
Since 2004, Clar Construction has established itself as a leader in crafting bespoke living spaces. We have expertly remodeled homes, crafted custom additions, decks, cabinetry, and built-ins, ensuring every detail reflects our commitment to excellence. Our dedicated team, which includes skilled production staff, esteemed partners, reliable vendors, and our meticulous administrative professionals, stands ready to elevate your home to new heights.
Our approach sets us apart. We believe in transparency and meticulous planning. From the conceptualization phase, we work hand in hand with our clients, ensuring that every detail is outlined and understood. This collaborative method ensures clarity on costs and overall project expectations from the outset, guaranteeing a harmonious journey towards realizing your home’s potential.
Our Shop & Office Located Downtown Montpelier
Our headquarters is nestled within the historic National Clothespin Company building on Granite Street in Montpelier. Before we took residence, the company had processed its final 10,000 board feet of maple on machinery once used to craft the iconic spring-loaded clothespin — a hallmark Vermont invention from 1853.
In the time since the National Clothespin Company’s departure, we have been meticulously transforming this once-traditional woodworking establishment into a state-of-the-art millwork facility. We are immensely proud to carry on the tradition of crafting wood-based materials, now for our home remodeling clients, in this very space where wooden clothespins were once manufactured. The space itself is luminous, with abundant natural light, and it’s steeped in a century’s worth of industrial heritage — evident in its walls and floors.
- Our Core Values -
Quality Work
We take pride in our standards and a durable final product
At Clar Construction we:
- Use our knowledge of the whole house as a system
- Plan carefully and invest time in quality
- Are persistent at solving problems
- Take pride in accuracy and efficiency
- Choose quality materials
- Produce excellent work we are proud to contribute to the community
Clear Communication
We value inclusive, two-way communication
At Clar Construction we:
- Seek mutual understanding of common goals
- Work together to find solutions
- Ensure everyone’s perspectives are understood
- Ask questions, offer perspectives, and check-in regularly
- Are sincere, honest, and genuine
- Practice patience
- Use a respectful tone with each other, with clients, vendors, and with trade partners
Respect & Trust
Sincere relationships define us
At Clar Construction we:
- Respect each other and all clients and partners
- Anticipate one another’s needs and show up for each other
- Keep our word
- Follow through
- Own up to mistakes
- Acknowledge, respect, and respond to unexpected client needs
- Work with trade partners whose standards and values align with ours
- Acknowledge that we guests in our clients’ homes
Community
We are committed to our community and long term sustainability
At Clar Construction we:
- Support our community through volunteer time, carpentry, and personally relevant projects
- Respond to people in need
- Are generous
- Practice responsible building science
- Support local businesses
- Our approach serves our long-term vision of sustainability
- Build quality, long lasting projects that perform efficiently
- Pay a liveable wage
Constant Improvement
Our team is committed to learning, personal growth, self-fulfillment, and meaning in our work
At Clar Construction we:
- Pursue personal and professional growth
- Are open to new ideas
- It is safe to make mistakes and keep learning
- Client feedback leads to action
Our Team
Dan Clar
Owner
Dan grew up in Rochester, NY and graduated college with a degree in Education. While in College he started working for a contractor specializing in church steeple restoration and building where he spent half of his time in the millwork shop fabricating parts, and the other half dangling 125 feet up from a bowsons chair installing those parts. It was that job that cemented his interest in working with his hands in the trades and was all he could do to complete college when his interests clearly revolved around carpentry and woodwork.
In 2004 he started Clar Construction as its sole employee and has been dedicated to the success and growth of the business ever since.
Dan lives in Montpelier. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and children, hiking Vermont’s mountains, getting out on the water, and is currently trying to figure out how to build a wooden canoe.
Dana Hock
Controller
Dana grew up in Edinboro, PA and was recruited to play college basketball at UNC Asheville. She transferred to Edinboro University for her final years of college and graduated with a degree in Accounting.
After school Dana would spend the next 14 years working in the insurance industry moving through the ranks from an account management trainee, business analyst, to ultimately having her own fully staffed agency for 5 years.
When deciding where to open her agency she looked around at various locales and decided on Montpelier as it offers so many of the things that Dana appreciates – the 4 seasons, no billboards to be seen, the mountains, farms, all while being a very dog friendly community.
In 2018 after her career in insurance and her kids had gotten to a certain age, she joined Clar Construction, where she is our Financial Controller.
Dana lives with her husband, two children, and dog. In her freetime she enjoys coaching basketball and soccer, and reading.
Jared Coyne
Lead Carpenter
Jared grew up in Boston, MA. After high school he went to UVM to study Environmental Education and then pursued trail building through AmeriCorps and the Appalachian Mountain Club. It was while building bridges and boardwalks in northern Maine that he decided to make a career out of woodworking.
After many years of seasonal work he began working with Clar Construction in 2018 as an Apprentice Carpenter. Eager to learn and naturally talented Jared ascended through the levels and as of 2023 he is one of our Lead Carpenters.
Jared lives in Duxbury with his wife and dog. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, snowboarding, biking and of course, renovating his own house.
Megan McDonald
Carpenter
Meg is from Connecticut. After high school she graduated from UVM with a degree in plant biology and food systems. Her college career led her to spend the next 6 years farming with a few different farms around Chittenden County.
In 2022 she was looking for a shift in careers but it was important to her to continue to work with her hands and to be outdoors as much as possible. Meg joined Clar Construction in early 2022 as an Apprentice Carpenter with little experience and is now one of our Carpenters. She has shown exceptional aptitude for all things carpentry – framing, finish work, and the cabinetry she builds in our shop.
Meg lives with her partner and In her free time enjoys biking, rock climbing, skiing, and cooking.
Miky Rusenas
Carpenter
Miky is from Austin, Texas where he lived until he was 21. After High School he climbed trees for a few years as an arborist.
Inspired by friends and family Miky moved to Chicago and worked in the restaurant industry for 6 years starting as a line cook and moving through the ranks to become a Manager. It was during these years that Miky got engaged and they decided to move back to Austin where he decided to pursue his interest of furniture making and woodworking. He worked in a cabinet shop for 3 years before deciding to once again move North.
In 2019 he moved to Vermont. After a short stint providing living skills counseling to local youth his desire to again work with his hands led him to Clar Construction. Miky has an uncompromising attention to detail and brings a high level of work to all of his projects. He enjoys the variety of work he does here, appreciates the consistency between company standards and his own personal standards, and enjoys participating in a meaningful way in the Central Vermont community.
Miky lives in Berlin with his wife and dog. In his free time he enjoys climbing rocks (outdoors and in the gym), playing piano, and gardening.
Sherman Plumley
Carpenter
Sherman grew up in the greater Burlington area, completing his high school years in the Youth Build program which set him up for the career in the building trades that he has been dedicated to since then.
After some years working in various welding fabrication, landscaping, and HVAC install positions he landed at Recycle North where he would spend the next 10 years moving through the ranks to become a Manager. In this position he directed crews to deconstruct buildings such that they could be recycled and re-used as much as possible. Sherman has a remarkable passion for the responsible and sustainable use of resources and even went on to teach a deconstruction class at Yestermorrow.
From there he went on to work for a Chittenden County residential remodeling company where he continued to hone his craft, now with an emphasis on building and remodeling. That position set him up well to join us here at Clar Construction as a Carpenter in early 2023.
Sherman lives with his wife and two children in Barre. In his free time he enjoys archery, playing Magic, and working on his house.
Becky Citarella
Apprentice Carpenter
Becky Citarella is a corn-bred Iowa gal. She ran off to Denver for college studying Interior Design for a few years before realizing she wanted to spend her time in the shop and switched to Industrial Design. This is where she picked up her broad range of design and build skills. She went on to work in the outdoor industry for nearly a decade, starting in sales at REI and moving into Product Development at Outdoor Research. There she realized sitting at a desk full time would never suit her need for a dynamic, engaging environment and she didn’t want to be so removed from the actual making of things. Through an internship at Yestermorrow, she added carpentry to her skill sets and followed that into a job with Clar.
She has a broad array of design, work, and people skills that she brings to the job. She enjoys the small, close-knit team at Clar, the opportunity to learn and grow, and the ever-changing assignments.
She lives in Worcester with her husband and cat. She enjoys meeting people, sharing meals, making things, and exploring. She has an insatiable wanderlust and loves to try new things. In her twenties, she made the goal and traveled to every continent, except Antarctica (too expensive) before turning thirty.