About Us
We're a team of passionate thinkers and doers, dedicated to building with purpose and clarity. Collaboration and curiosity drive everything we do.
Jon Downs, Founder of Jon Downs Desert Finish Company
I was just 13 years old when my family moved to Indio in the summer of 1969. With our boxes still unpacked, my father rigged up a set of rabbit-ear antennas so we could watch Neil Armstrong take that giant leap for mankind. It's a moment I've never forgotten, and one that set the tone for everything that followed.
Fourteen years later I found myself at TRW's Fiber Optics Research and Development center in Space Park, El Segundo, working alongside the man who invented the Ruby Red Laser. For six years I contributed to projects ranging from Alaskan Pipeline sensors to jet engine temperature technology, and even submitted two patents, one for a tap-proof communications system developed for President Ronald Reagan. It was there that I also learned how the professional world operates: clear communication, reliability, and treating every client with integrity.
After the birth of our two sons, my wife and I returned to the Coachella Valley to raise our family in the same desert community where I grew up. I channeled everything I learned in aerospace, the precision, the problem solving, the professional standards, into a craft I truly love.
In 1989 I founded Jon Downs Desert Finish and earned my California contractor's license in finish carpentry, cabinetry, and millwork. Over 37 years later, we're still proudly serving Indio and the entire Coachella Valley with high-end remodeling, custom millwork, and finish carpentry built to withstand the desert's harshest conditions.
Every project gets the same care. Every client deserves the same honesty. That's never changed.