Mark and Tammy Ellwanger purchased the building that houses The Finishing Touch in 2005.
It had been a milliner shop, an apartment building, and a tavern in previous lives, probably among other things! Eventually it sat abandoned for several years before the Ellwangers bought it. It was a challenge to remodel, and it revealed stories about itself as the work unfolded. Ultimately, Mark’s skills in cabinetry and woodworking enabled them to restore the space (and several adjoining spaces since then) to breathe new life into the block just southeast of the Winterset square.
All the woodwork inside The Finishing Touch was completed by Mark Ellwanger of Madison County Cabinetry. The cash-wrap area that greets customers just inside the door, for example, is a replica he made of an Irish pub. The woods and finishes chosen throughout are purposefully different, so that customers can get a taste of what each might look like in their own homes.
