Knowing the origin of each and every product we create allows us to pass on a meaningful narrative that our clients have come to expect. You can learn more about our sustainable sourcing practices here.
Learn More About Our FSC-Certified Mill in Pine Plains, NY.
Last weekend’s AndNorth Holiday Pop-Up at our Manhattan Showroom was a great success. Thanks to all the New York makers, artists, and craftspeople who participated in bringing their beautiful wares from Upstate New York to NYC.
And, while the pop up shop has ended (for now), The Hudson Company's new Manhattan Showroom is open to designers, architects, and homeowners each and every week: Monday - Wednesday 9-6, Thursdays 9-7, and Fridays 9-5.
Stop by for a chat with our team of custom flooring experts and let us help you with your next design project.
Happy Holidays!
Overlooking the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley is the idyllic Sunnyfield Farm, a horse farm and traditional Georgian-style home in Millbrook, New York.
The Hudson Company was honored to play a role in the development, design, and construction of the home — a project spanning more than eight years, including a research trip to the Swedish countryside for inspiration and materials. This passion project required not only a very close client-designer relationship but also an ongoing dialogue with The Hudson Company. The result of these close partnerships is a residential installation project that features some of our most ambitious flooring details to date, including 10" Reclaimed Heart Pine flooring sourced from historic New York City townhouses; custom-milled, extra-long White Oak floor planks; and Reclaimed Redwood specially milled for Sunnyfield’s trim work.
Throughout the process, lead architect Cynthia Filkoff of Di Biase Filkoff Architects was attuned to her client’s high standard of quality and beauty. “We were initially asked to transform the preexisting modernist house into a traditional Tudor,” Filkoff explains, “but after living in the original house for a year, the client decided that the quality of the construction was inadequate. It made more sense to tear it down and build a new home.”
In time, the team at Di Biase Filkoff came up with a solution that would meet the client’s exacting criteria: a proper brick Georgian home with Swedish-inspired interiors connected to the magnificent land and views. In order to find the right balance of craftsmanship and aesthetic, Filkoff traveled to the client’s summer home in Fiskebäckskil, Sweden. “In Sweden, I was able to study the wood-centric, old-world architecture that the client admired so much. What I found there was an aesthetic that was rich in handcrafted details. It was inventive and playful, both inside and out. Ultimately, these were the kind of details that we worked to incorporate at Sunnyfield.”
Along with a detailed list of high-quality, sustainable material specifications, the choice of wood flooring was critical to the aesthetic and design of the home. “When it came to flooring,” Cynthia recalls, “the client was committed to creating a wood floor that reflected the antique floors of classic Swedish homes. The details had to be authentic.” From here, Di Biase Filkoff turned to The Hudson Company, who encouraged the designers to incorporate two complementary flooring types: Reclaimed Heart Pine and White Oak.
The Reclaimed Heart Pine milled for the Sunnyfield project was sourced from a row of historic townhouses on New York City’s Upper East Side and then milled to a width of 10” to reflect the flooring Filkoff had researched in Scandinavia. The White Oak flooring planks, installed in the home’s ground floor, were sourced from purpose-cut trees, hand selected from private timber stands. The trees were air-dried, kiln-dried, and custom milled to meet the architect’s designs. Along with an intricate wagon wheel pattern for Sunnyfield’s dining room, Filkoff also designated that much of the White Oak would be milled into extra-long planks that could span from the home’s front entrance all the way to the back door. At 10” wide and ranging from 10’ to 24’ in length, these extraordinarily long oak planks create a striking and unique aesthetic for the home’s ground floor. In addition, Reclaimed Redwood, sourced from decommissioned New York City rooftop water tanks, was used to outfit the home’s custom door and window frames and interior trim.
In the end, what made the Sunnyfield project such a glowing success was the sustained and passionate attention to detail by everyone involved: the client, the designers, and a wide array of talented craftspeople. Looking back, Filkoff remembers the project collaboration with special fondness. “Working with The Hudson Company exceeded our expectations on every level: from their knowledgeable insight and expertise, to their creative ideas, to their ability to source and deliver materials on time and on budget,” she says. “Throughout the project, the collaboration was exceptional. The Hudson Company enhanced the entire process. You know, I could go on and on about this project. Sunnyfield was such a labor of love.”
“We wanted the space to be a balance of contrasts, open and airy yet respectful of the rooms expected in townhouse living; modern lines and materials, but respecting the character of the house and neighborhood; natural but polished; unique and creative, yet timeless and universal.”
Well known for its tree-lined streets and well-preserved antebellum townhouses, Brooklyn Heights is one of New York City’s most charming neighborhoods. At the very heart of this historic district is the 1834 brownstone on the corner of Willow and Middagh Street. Originally built in a Greek Revival Style, 15 Willow once belonged to the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor but, in 2016, was transformed into a single-family residence — a transformation that required a nuanced balance of innovation and preservation. The development and design team behind the renovation at 15 Willow Street project was Studio DB, led by the firm’s husband-and-wife principals Damian and Britt Zunino.
Damian explains how, as the team endeavored to modernize the 6,400-square-foot, five-bedroom townhouse, their goal was to create a balance of contrasts. “We wanted the space to be open and airy, yet respectful of the kind of interiors expected in townhouse living, [with] modern lines and materials that honored the historic character of both the house and the neighborhood.”
The choice of flooring was central to the architects’ goal of honoring the past while simultaneously integrating modern lines and materials. “We had a vision of how we wanted the floors to feel, so we reached out to The Hudson Company at the very beginning of the process. There was a specific walnut floor we were looking for — we wanted something that felt natural but still had a lot of character, and we knew The Hudson Company could produce this kind of flooring for us.”
Through close collaboration with the Studio DB team, The Hudson Company custom-milled 3,000 square feet of 5” Walnut plank and 1,000 square feet of 5” Herringbone plank for the project.“The new floors feel light but still raw,” Zunino says. “The finish brings a timeless, polished aesthetic to the house’s interior.”
The installation profile originally appeared in The Hudson Company Journal, Volume 2. Read more or learn how to get your physical copy of The Journal here.
Our custom Flat Sawn White Oak is milled to minimize waste and to accentuate arching, cathedral grain. This cut includes edge sap, tight knots, and grain variation. Learn more about this versatile flooring product here.
Photos above and below are from the award winning Mitchell's Lane residential installation (also known as 'Grove House'), designed by Roger Ferris + Partners. A few notes about the project design, taken from the architect's website:
This private residence was designed as an immersive yet modern natural retreat, providing connections to the surrounding landscape via planes of glass that interrupt a series of solid forms. Two of the volumes are delicately connected and sectioned off by a glass breezeway, housing the public and private living spaces of the home. A third volume stands alone, housing an artist studio on the second floor overlooking the rural landscape on which the home is set. Each of the three simple gable-shaped volumes are covered in the same natural rain screen wood material, that will gradually weather as the volumes fade into their natural surroundings.
Learn more about our Flat Sawn White Oak here and see more from this design installation here.
Over the past few months, we had the pleasure of collaborating with designer Brad Ford to craft the event stage for the 4th annual Field + Supply, which took place at The Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, NY from October 6-8.
Over the Columbus Day weekend, the Field + Supply event stage played host to a number of talented artists, including: Brooklyn Bluegrass Collective, Cricket Tell The Weather, and The Bones of JR Jones among others. You can see the full list of performers here.
This year's stage was being built with Reclaimed Mushroom Wood paneling. Our Reclaimed Mushroom Wood paneling is sourced from the bedding bins of mushroom growing facilities in the mid-Atlantic. The material offers a caramel patina and a combination of smooth and radial kerfed faces.
Interested in stage or installation design? Click here to see our 2016 stage for Field + Supply.
Special thanks to Cabinets by Stanley and designer Brad Ford.
Camp Wandawega, located near Elkhorn, Wisconsin and established in 1925, is a place quiet unlike any other in America: an historic landmark, a vintage summer camp, and (among other things) a former brothel and speakeasy! Today Camp Wandawega has been lovingly preserved by its owners / innkeepers David and Tereasa, who have reinvented Camp Wandawega while simultaneously preserving it's fascinating legacy and beloved character.
The newest project at Camp Wandawega is the restoration of the property's 'Social House' which will feature Hudson Company Reclaimed Softwood Threshing Floor.
A bit about Reclaimed Softwood Threshing Floors: Threshing is the agrarian process in which wheat is separated from chafe. Traditionally, farmers have used oxen and cattle to tread repeatedly over the crop to accelerate the separation. The result of this aggressive agricultural process is, that the wide mixed, softwood floor boards of the threshing room floor develop a distinct, rugged character and well-worn patina.
Below is a sneak peak of the Reclaimed Threshing Floors being installed in Camp Wandawega's Social House. More on this project to come in the near future!
More about Camp Wandawega here.
More about Reclaimed Softwood Threshing Floors here.
See our 'Designer Square Series' interview and collaboration with Camp Wandawega innkeeper and stylist extraordinaire Tereasa Surratt here.
The Camp Wandawega Social House nearing completion, summer 2017.
Reclaimed Softwood Threshing floors just after being installed at Camp Wandawega.
Installation photos courtesy of Camp Wandawega.
Domino Sugar Refinery Photos by Paul Raphaelson.
Domino Sugar Refinery Photos by Paul Raphaelson.
Domino Sugar Refinery Photos by Paul Raphaelson.
Recently, The Hudson Company was honored to be selected to custom mill 45,000 board feet of Reclaimed Heart Pine Beams and Mixed Softwood Decking salvaged from Williamsburg's historic Domino Sugar Refinery. Rich in over a century of colorful history (the factory complex was built in the 1880s and was once the largest of its kind in the world), the riverfront Domino facility was an icon of the Williamsburg skyline for more than a century. And although the refinery is now gone, much of the grand old icon of New York's industrial past is being preserved in an innovative and sustainably-minded way.
After being salvaged by Brooklyn-based developers Two Trees, the reclaimed wood from the Domino facility was transported to our Pine Plains, NY mill to be de-nailed, graded, planed, and profiled for use as park benches, furniture, and other on site décor for the buildings and park structures that will replace the old factory (exciting details and timelines for the Domino Redevelopment Project can be found here).
Now that much of the original manufacturing facility is gone, Two Trees, along with SHoP Architects and James Corner Field Operations, have developed a vision for the future that preserves a number of relics from the historic Domino complex: including two 80-foot tall historic cranes, large cylindrical syrup cranes, and more than twenty stone columns from facility's warehouse. Along with the new luxury and affordable housing units being built on the site of the old Domino complex, the developers are executing a master plan that includes community-focused gardens, public parks, playgrounds and sports fields.
Stay tuned to www.thehudsonco.com in the coming months, where we will be sharing more about our involvement in this exciting development, including imagery and details on how the reclaimed wood from inside the Domino factory is put to use in the Domino Redevelopment Project.
In the meantime, you can learn more about Two Trees here, more about SHoP Architects here, more about James Corner Field Operations here, and see more of Paul Raphaelson's pre-demolition Domino Sugar Refinery photos here.
Domino Redevelopment renderings by Two Trees Management.
Domino Redevelopment renderings by Two Trees Management.
Domino Redevelopment renderings by Two Trees Management.
Thanks to Sydney Franklin and the entire team at Architizer.com for featuring us on their site this month. Their profile of The Hudson Company - Good Wood: The Epic Journey of Reclaimed Timber Flooring is a fantastic overview of the people, products, and process that make The Hudson Company who we are.
Here's an excerpt:
"With a few exceptions, no single architectural project is entirely made of building-products sourced from the same place. It takes a village of manufacturers — all working in conjunction with architects, engineers and contractors — to compose a proper shelter for us to inhabit. Everything from the exterior cladding and the roof to the window hinges and the kitchen countertops are hand-selected from around the world and chosen for their performance and aesthetic quality. The same goes for something as seemingly simple as flooring: As an interior structural element that heavily contributes to the experiential qualities of a space, it’s imperative that architects choose the most appropriate material to go beneath our feet.
This is where wood comes in. We all know what bad wood flooring looks like, but truly great wood flooring is an instant turn-on. It’s sexy. It’s clean. It has a level of depth and texture that fake wood flooring, ceramic tiles and even concrete can’t inherently produce. It’s all-natural and cuts to our core. Each individual plank features a distinct pattern and porosity that can’t be precisely reproduced in the plank next to it."
Read the full story here.
For the 2017 Collective Design Fair, The Hudson Company was proud to collaborate with designer Brad Ford and FAIR.
For FAIR's Collective Design installation, we provided a custom milled floor made from unfinished 2 5/8" Reclaimed Oak, New Face. The flooring material was reclaimed by The Hudson Company from a Pennsylvania dairy barn and re-milled at our Pine Plains, NY mill.
About FAIR: In October 2014, Interior Designer Brad Ford organized a modern makers craft fair in upstate New York called Field + Supply. The focus was on modern, elevated craftsmanship showcasing artisans from the Hudson Valley area as well as makers who work in New York City and Brooklyn. FAIR is an extension of that concept and is now a permanent showroom at the New York Design Center.
About Collective Design: Collective Design brings together creative voices from around the world in a lively, essential discourse on modern and contemporary design and art. Based in New York City and active in the arts community throughout the year, Collective Design presents engaging conversations and educational programs to foster dialogue, encourage the exchange of ideas, and build a growing audience for collectible design and art.
Learn more about Hudson Company Reclaimed Oak, New Face flooring.
