New Life for a Hudson Valley Victorian

When David Ren bought Twin Bridges, his 1860’s Victorian mansion in New York’s Hudson Valley, it had seen better days. Weather, time, foreclosure, and even animals had taken their toll, and there was only one bathroom in the house that worked. An extension that had previously housed a 19th century kitchen was unsalvageable, which presented Ren and the team at Workstead with an intriguing challenge: design and build a new volume in its place that was both contemporary and contextual. Inspired by the quirky glamour of the Eastlake style home’s original bones, Workstead created a streamlined, two-story pavilion that echoes—but doesn’t mimic—the original. Where the front part of the house is painted ivory, its form animated by lots of crisp Victorian angles, the back part is curved like an Art Deco cruise ship, and its exterior is charred black.

Ren and Workstead had collaborated before: the firm helped give his Chelsea condo its distinctive character, and helped renovate his historic Charleston carriage house, which dates from the 1850s. There are elements of Workstead’s multifaceted practice to be found throughout Twin Bridges: there’s the architecture itself, the interior design, and the lighting, which includes unique fixtures like the eye-catching Orbit chandelier, which floats above a Nathan Lindberg cocktail table.

A color palette of jewel tones, such as Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue, evokes the spirit of William Morris’s floral wallpaper, but instead of fussy, it feels relaxed and sophisticated. To complement the rich hues of the paint, furniture and textiles, there’s custom mahogany millwork restored to its original splendor, and The Hudson Company provided Bare, Ash flooring—a wood that has historically been used for building horse-drawn carriages, weapons, and even sporting equipment. The carriage trade may be a thing of the past in the Hudson Valley, but happily there’s still plenty of enthusiasm for the eccentricity and charm of Victorian high style.

Photography by Matthew Williams

Inspired by Vernacular Architecture and Natural Vistas in Jackson Hole

In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the vernacular architecture and the natural landscape are all of a piece: rustic barns from the late 19th century have gently sloped roofs that echo the forms of the majestic mountains surrounding them. The town sits in a valley tucked between the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges. For architects Brian Messana and Toby O'Rorke, designing a house on Junegrass Road meant taking each spectacular vantage point into consideration so they could capture the views their clients loved best.

Like the landscape, which offers beauty in every direction, Jackson Hole itself is “365,” Messana says, noting that there are outdoor pursuits for all seasons here: skiing, hiking, fishing, and mountain climbing, to name just a few. So the house isn’t a ski lodge per se, but a year-round retreat that fits into a dynamic landscape that changes throughout the year. To contextualize the house, they chose cedar siding for the exterior to evoke the look of the 19th and early 20th century ranch homes that dot the area. But there are distinctly modern touches: the house comprises four volumes which are connected by glass walkways. Different parts of the home are clad in stone or stained cedar, mixing a palette of traditional and unexpected materials.

To bring a natural palette inside, the team chose materials that evince a sense of warmth. The Hudson Company provided Ditch Plains French Oak for the floors, which, according to Messana, captures the look and feel of wood in its natural setting thanks to its dimensions: 13.5” wide and up to 16 feet long. (“It looks like a tree,” he explains.) As one of the largest surfaces inside any home, he says, floors have a great impact on the whole interior, even if they’re subtle in color and texture. “We juxtaposed the floor with the Allagash wood from The Hudson Company which is gray, but not cold,” says Massana, adding that because each plank is about eight inches wide, and delineated by a micro bevel that creates a soft line, each piece is has its own character, and taken together the wood forms a beautiful textured plane.

Messana and O’Rorke drew inspiration from the local vernacular architecture in Jackson hole, particularly a group of late 19th century homes called Mormon Row which are the preserved structures built by members of the Church of Latter Day Saints when they first settled in Wyoming. But in reimagining these forms for a 21st century retreat, they pulled them apart, connecting each volume in the house with transparent glass walkways, and thus treading lightly on a landscape that has much to offer.

Photography by: Tuck Fauntleroy

Protecting your floors this winter

Now that the dry months of Winter are upon us, we’d like to remind all our clients and colleagues that it’s important to care for your wood floors by monitoring the environmental conditions in your home, office, and retail spaces.

The natural expansion and contraction of wood caused by relative humidity levels that are either too high or too low can adversely affect floors, paneling, millwork, and even furniture.

Here are a few easy ways to protect and maintain your floors this season:

1. Purchase a digital hygrometer

2. Maintain an interior temperature between 60 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit

3. Maintain an interior relative humidity of 35 - 55%

For more information, please visit the National Wood Flooring Association’s website, or contact The Hudson Company directly.

SCHOTTEN & HANSEN at The Hudson Company

The Hudson Company is pleased to announce our new partnership with the venerable German flooring company Schotten & Hansen, which produces responsibly harvested wood of peerless quality. Now on view at our New York City showroom, the Schotten & Hansen Collection for The Hudson Company combines two distinct legacies in the design world, providing American clients with seamless access to Schotten & Hansen products. This new relationship means access to an expanded range of top quality lumber for flooring, panels and interiors with the service, knowledge, and craftsmanship you already know.

Founder Torben Hansen has described his company as a “mediator between nature and architecture.” Established in 1984, Schotten & Hansen is the premier producer of fine wood for flooring, paneling and interiors in Europe. Based in Peiting, Germany, Schotten & Hansen makes its wood products “for life,” meaning that their wood lasts a lifetime, and that their natural approach to sourcing and finishing wood is as safe as anything you would eat or wear. No solvents or acrylic glues ever touch Schotten & Hansen lumber—the company finds all the ingredients they need in nature, using beeswax, minerals, and oils to color and finish their products. Like The Hudson Company, Schotten & Hansen provides the finest quality wood available to some of the most prominent interior designers and architects in the world. Schotten & Hansen’s project can be found all over the globe. Several recent highlights in New York include the new GOOP Store, the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo, the Whitby Hotel in Midtown, and numerous residences designed by top architects around the world.

Schotten & Hansen Shrunk Face, European Oak flooring in Driftwood color at Goop Lab, NYC. Photo: Adrian Gaut.

Schotten & Hansen Shrunk Face, European Oak flooring in Oyster Dark color at The Crosby Street Hotel, NYC. Design by Kit Kemp. Photo: Simon Brown.

The partnership between The Hudson Company and Schotten & Hansen means access to a new range of top quality lumber for flooring, panels and interiors with the service, knowledge, and craftsmanship you already know. Schotten & Hansen’s practice of finishing wood by hand yields a product that’s designed to stand the test of time and age beautifully. Torben Hansen believes machines are “no match” for traditional German woodworking techniques. Their wood is the lumber equivalent of haute couture: you won’t find a more luxurious or perfectly finished product anywhere. A tree’s life cycle doesn’t end when it is harvested; if it’s crafted and finished in just the right way, its wood enhances the beauty of an interior and enriches the experience of those who live there for generations to come.

BROWSE OUR SCHOTTEN & HANSEN COLLECTION

The Hudson Company featured in the nyt

Elizabeth Roberts, and architect based in Brooklyn, NY., installed natural-looking white-oak flooring from The Hudson Company in the kitchen of a TriBeCa home.
Photo by Kyle Knodell

A house by Di Biase Filkoff Architects in Millbrook, NY., live-sawn white oak floors with plenty of character, from The Hudson Company. Photo by Gentl and Hyers.

In a farmhouse in Dutchess County, NY., Larson Architecture Works installed reclaimed heart-pine flooring from The Hudson Company. Photo by William Cole.

“The floor is the base upon which all other decisions are built.”

- Tim McKeough, NYT

A house by Roger Ferris and Partners in Bridgehampton, NY., has flat-sawn white oak floors by The Hudson Company. Photo by Gentl and Hyers.

Design writer and New York Times contributor, Tim McKeough, writes about the complex decisions that face renovators when it comes to choosing the right kind of hardwood flooring. The Hudson Company founder Jamie Hammel is quoted extensively in the piece, on the topics of grain appearance (“tiger stripes” and “cathedral pattern”), lumber grading, which classifies pieces of wood according to how many or few knots they have, the difference between solid and engineered wood, and the pros and cons of various finishes. 

The article will appear in the print edition of the New York Times on January 12th.

Read the full article here

Installation In Focus: Mitchell's Lane

Flat Sawn White Oak Floors At Mitchell's Lane Residence

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.
 

The Hudson Company + Camp Wandawega Sneak Peak

Reclaimed Softwood Threshing Floors at Camp Wandawega, Wisconsin

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.

Same Expertise, Now Twice The Flooring Choices

Since 1995, The Hudson Company has been a leader in custom milled Reclaimed Wood Floors. Now, as a complement to our Reclaimed products, we are proud to introduce our Select Harvest line of custom milled, new flooring. Select Harvest flooring is available pre-finished and unfinished.

Browse Select Harvest Flooring Now

Hudson Company Reclaimed Heart Pine Floors on Architizer.com

Hudson Company Reclaimed Heart Pine [Chalk Finish] featured on Architizer.com

We were thrilled last week, when The Hudson Company's Reclaimed Heart Pine [Chalk Finish] floors were featured on Architizer.com as one of their featured 'Products of the Day.'

The timing of Architizer's feature on Reclaimed Heart Pine [Chalk Finish] seems especially apropos as we approach the first anniversary of the opening of New York's new Whitney Museum of American Art - a large-scale installation in which The Hudson Company provided over 60,000 square feet of wide plank, Heart Pine floors. To meet the custom design needs for the new Whitney project, The Hudson Company collaborated with the architectural teams at The Renzo Piano Design Workshop and Cooper Robertson Architects throughout 2013 and 2014. At the time of the Museum's opening, Jerry Saltz of New York Magazine described the Whitney's interiors and floors as, 'open, simple, Shaker-like; the wide-plank pine floors are perfect.' 

But whether installed on a massive scale (a la the new Whitney Museum) or used in a more intimate, residential application, there is just something special about these particular Reclaimed Wood flooring.

About Reclaimed Heart Pine [Chalk Finish]

Part of what make's our Reclaimed Heart Pine so special is its unique origin story. 

For the past two centuries, Longleaf Heart Pine was a predominant standing timber across a large span of the eastern seaboard. Its prevalence and unique properties made it the most widely utilized timber in American construction. 

Today, our Reclaimed Heart Pine flooring are sourced from abandoned or de-commissioned factories and warehouses located around the Hudson River Valley, some of which were constructed during the Industrial Revolution. You can learn more about The Hudson Company's reclamation process in our three part series 'Crafting The Whitney Floors.'

Product Specs:

Hudson Company Reclaimed Heart Pine [Chalk Finish] floors are available at dimensions of 3/4" x 4-8" x 2-12'. Tongue & Groove. End Matched. Shown pre-finished in Chalk. Floors are also available unfinished.

Click here to learn more or quote Reclaimed Heart Pine for your next project.

Renzo Piano On The Vision Behind The New Whitney Museum

In this short but insightful video for Architectural Record, architect Renzo Piano discusses his firm's creative problem-solving process and the importance of the structural 'spine' of the new Whitney Museum of American Art. 

Click here to learn more about The Hudson Company's collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop for new The Whitney Museum in NYC.