Roy Underhill

In the early 1970s, Underhill and his wife moved to Colorado to form Homestead Arts to pursue a career in acting.

At the birth of his first daughter, he approached the UNC Center for Public Television with an idea about a traditional woodworking show.

Initially rejected, the idea was finally accepted; in 1979, filming began on The Woodwright's Shop at West Point on the Eno in Durham, N.C.[3] Around the same time, he also took the job as master housewright and later director of interpretive development at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

The Woodwright's School website is still active as of September 2023 and indicates that Roy is taking a break to work on a book and plans to resume teaching at a later date.

Many hand tool aficionados hold Underhill in extremely high regard and may refer to him with the shorthand "St.