About
Ben Horton (Owner/Craftsman)
Ben has spent most of his life creating, designing, and fixing things. He lived on the remote island of Palawan in the Philippines, where his parents were medical missionaries working at a small hospital in a place known as "The Last Frontier of the Philippines". Ben's earliest memories were of watching the carpenters and builders at the hospital and "helping" as much as he was allowed. He has always been creative and passionate about designing, building new things, and repairing broken ones, from tearing apart an old Briggs and Stratton engine to building tree forts, cutting trails in the jungle with a bolo (machete) and building wildlife traps from fishing line and sticks.
Ben learned from his dad, who was a jack-of-all-trades (from nursing to construction), that innovation and creative problem-solving are the only way to get things done when you live in the middle of nowhere and don't have a big box store to go to for all of your supplies.
Ben is passionate about mentoring the next generation and helping them understand that God has a special plan for their life. He and his wife, Sarah, started MudTown Customs, an innovative way to invest in mentoring young adults who are just starting out in life and need guidance as they learn life, trade, and business skills. You can check out the current projects they are working on by visiting the MudTown Customs Instagram page.
Ben's Dad helping build Palawan Baptist Hospital in the Philippines in the mid-1970s
In the late 1970s, Dad, with the help of local, skilled craftsmen, built our home out of locally sourced hardwoods in the late 1970s.
The home where Ben grew up in the Philippines that Dad designed and built using locally made bricks, tropical hardwoods, and bamboo siding. This home is where Ben's love for beautiful hardwood began.
Ben, barely visible in the background, and his brother helping the carpenters by periodically adding oil to their saw blades as they resaw ipil (aka Borneo teak or Moluccan Ironwood), an insect and rot-resistant hardwood commonly found in Palawan.
Why "MudTown"?
Some people ask why we chose "MudTown Customs" for our business name.
The word "mudtown" is derived from the Old English meaning of our last name, Horton. "Horh tun" was a habitation word describing a "dirty settlement" or a "muddy estate". Another derivation of Horton comes from "heorot tun" and has a general meaning of "a hill frequented by harts or stags", or "deer hill", as we might say today. The hart referred to by this name is prominently featured on the Horton family crest. We have combined these meanings and references in our business name and logo as a creative tribute to our family heritage.