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Why We Manufacture

 
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When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March, a shift from in-person to remote work swept every “non-essential” workplace practically overnight. Suddenly television news anchors were broadcasting from their homes against subdued digital backdrops. Classrooms went virtual, and students became expert “zoomers.” Museums shifted their operations to the web, and began sharing ever more content via Instagram and virtual events and tours. Novice sourdough bread enthusiasts shared their exploits on social media, while others sang the praises of a popular YouTube-based yoga teacher. Writing in the New York Times, reporter Dana Rubenstein noted that many politicians and journalists doing interviews from home were conspicuously displaying The Power Broker, Robert Caro’s massive 1974 biography of Robert Moses on their shelves, along with elegant ceramics and framed photos within view of the camera lens. (There’s even a Twitter feed that documents Power Broker sightings on TV.) It almost started to feel normal.

Of course, digital and virtual economies were vital before the pandemic, too. High school TikTok stars and Instagram influencers have real power (and make real money) these days, not as hobbyists, but as stand-up comics, singer-songwriters, and as arbiters of fashion and style. But as the experiences of brave essential workers demonstrated starkly at the pandemic’s height, digital work is limited to certain fields and certain kinds of jobs. There is no such thing as a digital emergency room doctor or EMT, or a virtual bus driver, or an online-only grocery store stocker. We live in the flesh and blood world, and we can only conduct certain aspects of our daily lives from behind a glowing screen.

 
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Like every other business, when the pandemic began, The Hudson Company had to quickly find workarounds in order to keep functioning safely. We were already doing certain things that made this transition possible: we have a website, social media feeds, we can share digital documents and images instantly, and we can communicate with clients and colleagues using video chat. But when New York State mandated that non-essential businesses close down in March, we had to close our showrooms and our Pine Plains mill. Just like companies that make fabric, tiles or lighting fixtures, there are things that simply cannot be accomplished virtually.

Take reclamation, for example: the expertise and hand skills necessary to deconstruct a barn or farmhouse are years in the making. Each old barn is unique, and our experts need to know what they’re looking at and how to deconstruct it, which is a different task every time. What kind of wood is it? How old is it? What kind of shape is it in? Then the wood comes to our mill. How should it be treated and processed? What features does our client need for a particular project? The tools and techniques required to mill and finish wood, especially to the high standards we’re known for, are not something that can be mastered overnight, nor can they be accomplished alone. Our team has years of expertise, and they work together in real time to produce the flooring and paneling we offer.

 
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New York State has started lifting some of the restrictions for non-essential businesses, but we’re still practicing social distancing, frequent handwashing and mask-wearing, and probably will continue to do so for some time. This may be our new normal. We usually hear the word “manufacture” in the context of industry, and we picture assembly lines, huge factories, and smart machines making things at high speed. But the word “manufacture” itself predates industry, and its Latin root words mean “to make” (facere) “by hand” (manus). Our digital tools, from Instagram to Zoom, have kept us connected these past few months, and we’re grateful for them. Indeed, we probably couldn’t survive without them. But if this experience has taught us anything, it’s that nothing can replace the know-how, creativity, or trained eye of a human being.

 
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The Hudson Co. Featured on Architizer.com

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The Hudson Company on Architizer.com

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. 

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Behind The Scenes At The Hudson Company Mill

No matter where our wood is sourced - whether reclaimed from a decommissioned NYC Water Tank (below left) or from an abandoned Ohio Barn (below right) - all of it will, eventually, make its way to The Hudson Company Mill in Pine Plains, New York. 

Situated on seven acres in the Hudson River Valley, The Hudson Company Mill is the place where both Reclaimed and Select Harvest wood comes to be inspected, sorted, graded, defected, planed, sawn, and molded to meet the specific design needs of our clients and collaborators. 

It's inside the walls of our 30,000 square foot FSC Certified Mill that our team of craftsmen and women proudly create the custom products that will ultimately make their way into private residences, retail and commercial spaces, designer hotels, and top-notch museums

The Mill is our home away from home, an industrial-strength, creative laboratory and a wood paradise  - its the place where vision, materials, and craftsmanship come together and where future design solutions are born. You should stop by sometime...

The Hudson Company Mill is open year-round and we would love to begin a conversation with you about how to find creative solutions to your next design project. Contact us today to set up a visit to The Mill (click for map).

Watch The Hudson Company Video (below), which features an in-depth look behind the scenes at The Mill.