Biography

Daniel Kucan grew up in a strict theater conservatory from the age of 7, where he studied design, art, carpentry, and performance studies. Over the next 11 years, he developed an edgy and often theatrical style that has become his trademark in the dozens of Hollywood homes he has designed since. After attending New York University and living on the East Coast for ten years, he moved to Los Angeles where he became a partner and lead designer at Mortise & Tenon, where he can still be found today. Over the course of his wildly inventive career, he has been a designer, actor, woodworker, finisher, kick boxing teacher, producer, author, stuntman, construction foreman, and circus knife thrower. Having travelled extensively, he has a deep, global commitment to ethical building and green designs. His store has been building in reclaimed lumber since before the word “green” had been branded to describe such a thing. Back then, it was simply called “the right thing to do.” An expert in Chinese martial arts, Daniel gave up a promising career as a competitive fighter when he quickly discovered that he’d rather lose a bout than actually hurt somebody, and this tenacious commitment to the morality of our everyday decisions plays out in his unwillingness to use animal products in either his designs, or in their construction. A quietly unassuming vegan, he doesn’t use leather or down or animal derived glues and lacquers. Daniel currently lives with his longtime girlfriend in Los Angeles in a Gothic English cottage that he restored himself. A historical revivalist at heart, his old school design mentality works perfectly with the Los Angeles architectural landscape, packed as it is with houses from the 20’s and 30’s that are crying out to have their former glory remembered. When he’s not designing, he can usually be found hiking in the mountains over L.A. with his two dogs. Prior to Sell This House: Extreme, Daniel appeared as a carpenter and designer for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and HGTV’s Desperate Spaces.