About Us

Zachary Knapp

President

After graduating from San Luis Obispo High School in 1995, I immediately went to college without an inkling carpentry would define my career. I enrolled at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), studied environmental science and public art, took a job doing habitat restoration, and got involved with organic farming. I graduated CSUMB with honors and the next day a high-end Monterey Bay contractor offered me an opportunity to join his crew building a custom home. What started out as a summer job for a change of pace from academia, became an apprenticeship and eventually resulted in the passion for building and woodwork that now anchors my career. The nexus for this switch from college grad to tradesperson, had everything to do with the Monterey Bay Contractor, Mickey Gawlowski, and how he passed on the trade and carpentry traditions he learned from his father, and grandfather.

I returned to San Luis Obispo County after eight years away with the goal to settle here. I began working for Carty Holland, got my contractor’s license, and worked for Holland Construction on many exciting projects over the next six years. In 2010, I started my own company, Sevens Construction, and in early 2011 Carty and I began to discuss combining our businesses to form Holland & Knapp Construction.

I am thankful for my incredibly supportive wife Sandra, and the opportunity to live and work in this community. In my free time I am happiest surfing and mountain biking along the Central Coast or skiing and hiking the Sierras with my family.

Sandra Knapp

Chief Financial Officer

The first set of tools that I received was a socket set from my dad as I packed up my things heading to Colorado Springs, CO to attend Colorado College where I graduated with a degree in History and Political Science and minors in Spanish and Environmental Issues. When I met Zachary several years later in Los Osos, CA, I had no idea that my socket set would be one of the first things he noticed about me. Not my smile, or beautiful brown eyes, or my unabashed joie de vivre. My socket set was being constantly “checked out” by Zachary until it permanently moved into his truck, along with all of my other tools that I had acquired over the years as a stagehand, apprentice shipwright, and sailor.

Zachary and I have been working together since the moment we met and we make an unusual husband and wife team in that we actually like working with each other and are really good at keeping each other honest about our expectations vs. reality. I never thought I was going to be a carpenter’s wife, but am glad to have married and partnered with a man that is unnerved and undaunted by the most exacerbating effects of Murphy’s Law. I know this first hand because I have been his most complicated and demanding client. We remodeled our home from 2018-2019, and we are still married, in love and thriving. When I am not basking in the glory of the nicest home in Los Osos, CA, I love to teach our daughters about making a difference in the world through the joys of practicing kindness and bravery. In my free time I like to make and eat really good food with family and friends after having an exhausting central coast 100% outside day (think: hiking, surfing, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, sand dune climbing, yeah!)

Jono Rebaldo

Project Forman

Jono comes from a legacy of building that started with his father's company, Westridge Construction in Orcutt, CA. After completing his classwork as a teenager he would help his father, Ron, on the job site learning the trade in daily tangible doses. From framing to general contracting Jono vigilantly and competently absorbed the noble craft of building by working alongside his father until he joined Zachary’s first company called Sevens Construction in 2009 when he was 23. Two years later Holland & Knapp Construction was formed and Jono became it’s first employee in 2011. Jono’s attentive and seasoned ability to approach a project in a practical and thoughtful manner is derived from over 16 years of experience in the construction trades. When he takes a break from methodically guiding a crew through the steps towards completing a Holland & Knapp Construction project, you will find Jono working on making his own home his dream home and spending quality time with his wife and cute as a button 2-year-old daughter, Mila at the dunes by the beach.

Mel Hooper

Project Forman & Master Carpenter

Mel also known far and wide as “Melgiver” began digging ditches for $4/hr for Brian Alhandy in Arroyo Grande, CA when he was 19. He learned his craft over the years and through the mentorship of mastercraftsmen like Shannon Taylor. By 1992 he earned his General Contractors license and was self-employed working in Seattle, WA where he took an opportunity to lead a crew to build homes in Japan 1994. Shortly afterwards in the winter of 1996 he took a crew of 19 to build traditionally built homes in South Korea. From there the Central Coast called him home and he began work with Dos Osos TimberFraming where his skill and love of roof cutting could shine. In 2013, he joined Holland & Knapp Construction and is happiest on high on a roof line with a calculator in hand held up by the winds of his experience. In all the unanticipated and anticipated turns that the art of building can take, Melgiver moves confidently with ease that only comes with over 40 years of master craftsmanship under his belt. There are few situations he has not been in, and there and none that he cannot resolve. When not expertly leading the crew with unparalleled understanding of just exactly how a project emerges from paper to true form, you can find Mel’s keen eye steady on a target off the barrel of one of his favorite guns. Not far out of reach will be a lawn chair to sit back, relax and take in a warm Atascadero summer sunset barbecue with family that has become friends, and friends that have become family.

Sven Hammer

Project Manager & Woodworker

Berufsschule in Herne, Germany is where Sven began his ubiquitous career in custom woodwork in 1996. This three year vocational school laid the foundation for a lifelong learning experience in the craft of woodworking. After completing vocational school Sven left home and his semi-professional soccer career in 2000 to move to the US. In 2001, he came to the central coast and joined Benchmark where his love of rendering wood and bringing a piece or project to life shined. With a well developed sense for design and an awareness of project sequencing, Sven joined Holland & Knapp Construction in 2014, as a project Manager and Woodworker. When not kicking up sawdust at the shop or making small miracles happen to get a project to the next step, you can find Sven coaching his son’s Coast Little League Baseball team, the Rangers, breaking a sweat at the Crossfit gym or enjoying a little camp trip up the beautiful central coast with his family.

Mary O’Neil

Project Manager

Mary graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in 1996 with a dual degree in Architecture and Construction Management. Problem solving is Mary’s distinguishing characteristic that blossomed while honing her construction management skills at Cal Poly. From ADA rails at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center to figuring out how an ADA bathroom can fit into an existing space, Mary found her niche actually in the detailed laden rigorous world of construction management. Following Poly she went onto Rudolph & Sletten but found that while commercial biotech building projects kept up with her analytical skills, they lacked the personal connection element that feeds Mary’s soul. When Mary became a mother she chose to work at Old Mission Preschool as their lead teacher to stay in sync with the schedules of her two children, Erin and Sean. Then in 2016, Mary joined Holland & Knapp Construction where her personable, methodical, detail orientated, approach to making a space work truly shines. As she says, “You have to get to know the user and how they live to get a project right and make it functional for them.” Outside of work you will find her rejuvenating lakeside or in the snow or hiking a glorious trail in the late afternoon sunshine, all depends on the season. Otherwise you might find her whipping up a batch of cookies with her son, making something beautiful with her daughter or settling into a good book with her husband while he tinkers in the garage just because it feels good to be with the ones she loves.

Jurgen Bubert

Finish Carpenter

At the age of 17 in Lübeck, Germany Jurgen joined the three year Polizei Schule. After graduating he worked at the Lübeck Police station and joined both the carpentry and nautical police technical units which sparked his interest in both. In 1995 his station reassigned him from his post in Usedom, Germany to be part of the first German Contingent to serve in the United Nations International Police Task Force in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina where he helped lead the effort to restructured and reform the local police into a multi-eithnic effective unit. While Jurgen originally had his heart set on ending up in Australia after serving four years as a United Nations Peace Officer in Sarajevo, his path changed course. While in Sarajevo he met a fellow UN Peace Officer who was from the Central Coast and in 2001, Jurgen decided to leave his hometown of Lübeck, Germany where he was a Hauptmeister (Police Capitan) and embarked on a four month long motorbike trip across Canada that ended in Avila Beach, CA replacing tile in exchange for room and board. From there he found his niche in cabinet making and honed his finish carpentry skills with Benchmark Cabinet Shop and then Kain Building. With over 20 years experience Jurgen joined Holland & Knapp Construction, in 2017. When not making a masterpiece or a dreamly organized and perfectly measured kitchen cabinet system, you will find him enjoying all water sport activities at his favorite lakeside location, Bulllard’s Bar, or tent camping with family and friends under the stars.

Jamie Rivers

Project Manager

Jamie hails from Charleston, SC and graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2001, in Earth Science. But his true love is carpentry. It is a fluid craft that is, as he says, “never the same thing on any given day.” Jamie began cutting his teeth in the trades while working with Gerry Luhr building homes in Morro Bay, CA in 1997 prior to going to college. After finishing his degree he chose to move north to Portland, OR where he took what he learned from Luhr and left the hypotheses behind. There he embarked on a self taught 15 year journey as a general contractor and real estate investor. In 2018, he came back to California for love and warmer water and joined Holland & Knapp Construction in 2019. When not rigorously and systematically advanicing a project to its next deadline for a client, you can find Jamie getting his earth system connection by traveling in search of surf somewhere in the Pacific or taking on river rapids with friends who have become loved ones.