antique lumber

Salvaged Step-by-Step

The reclaimed wood stairwell may be the last step of the house to be completed, as the transition pieces on the railings need to be custom milled. But the exceptional work by Jim Hartin and his crew at Blueline Construction produced the rustic and finely crafted steps, carving out stringers from dense 3 x 12 antique Pine timbers that arrived from 514 West 29th St.- the ascent feels like earth underfoot.

Colonial Backwoods Noir

photo copy 2Annie Proulx’s  “Rough Deeds” (New Yorker mag, June ’13) takes us to the heart of early 1700’s logging in the Northeast. The short story centers on a Frenchman named Duquet who amasses vast timber tracts (20,000 acres at 12¢/acre) during the era. While he and an associate are surveying the territory, they come across a crew of men cutting down their towering White Pines. One of the poachers meets the gruesome fate of Duquet’s ax through his skul. An owl witness’ the scene – a signal that the deed will later be repaid. Proulx’s Colonial backwoods noir brings the old growth forests alive.