Thank you for your interest! We are husband and wife team, John and Nancy Perilloux, both of whom are artists and blacksmiths with a mutual love of teaching, living in nature, creating art and sharing our interests. We have three children and live in Robert, Louisiana where we co-create a beautiful life together. 

​

 Around the year 2000, the property that is now Chappapeela Crafts was a beautiful 12 acre tract of land full of beautiful old growth trees with an expansive canopy that shaded the beautiful Chappapeela Creek that runs through it.  At the time, it was owned by a timber company who unfortunately harvested all of the gorgeous tree trunks before placing a for sale sign on the highway.  We knew the land needed replanting and felt an immediate calling to purchase it with the intention of returning it to it's original glory.  We spent the first several years cleaning up the debris that was left and planting over 6000 trees ourselves.  It was a labor of love and determination to heal the land and provide a beautiful oasis of nature for future generations to appreciate.   We did not know at the time that we would be creating a hub for knowledge sharing with so much potential.

​

We have about 10 acres of wood now with trails meandering through native plants, wildlife and wildflowers.  

   

Over the last 25 years, our vision has expanded little by little. We harvest fallen trees for lumber and use the wood for our own site structures. We forage for wild medicinal and edible plants.  We grow a vegetable garden which feeds many.   We have a wonderful 850 square foot classroom building which we rent out by the day or hour for classes, workshops and other events as well as host our own classes and workshops.   We have a small gallery on site as well to showcase our art (Nancy's paintings and jewelry and John's iron furnishings).  We have a large metal working shop for our blacksmithing workshops and private lessons.  We hope to have a ceramics program running by summer of 2026.

We also have plans to build a tiny house artisan community where artists have affordable housing with access to communal studio and shop space.

 

​ If you are someone who could benefit from having an affordable space for workshops, private or group sessions, classes, meetings, etc., please contact us to tour our classroom building or discuss renting it by the hour or day. ​​

​

​Please fill out our contact form if you have any questions or if you would like to be placed on our email list.  We have exciting plans for this year and want to keep you informed. 

​

Thank you for your interest!