Turning House Millworks turns old, into new
Turning House Furniture
Turning House Millworks may be new to the party (just launched this spring), but they’re already generating a buzz of excitement among both contemporary design enthusiasts, as well as traditionalists. And at a time when the recession is giving new light to reducing and reusing, this eco-conscious furniture company from southwest Virginia is hitting all the right notes.
And it doesn’t hurt that the company’s owner, Spencer Morten III, appears to have furniture-making in his blood – he’s the great-grandson of American furniture pioneer J.D. Bassett.
While their prices may not quite be in line with the state of the national economy, Turning House has stumbled upon something unique and limited and, by extension, inherently valuable. The company identifies abandoned or unused warehouses – many of them southern tobacco warehouses or distilleries – and salvages the now-rare woods often used in their construction a century or more ago.
Three distinct furniture styles are available to feature the reclaimed woods, ranging from Summer House, a casual, rustic collection; Fresh Heritage, a traditional line; and finally, to Belgian Modern, the industrial, contemporary style. Truly, there seems to be something for everyone with every taste. Goods available through the company’s catalog and website primarily include side tables, dining tables and chairs, buffets and cabinets.
But the best aspect may simply be the wood itself, which in many cases is rare or nearly extinct varieties including the Long Leaf Pine of North Carolina, beautiful Black Walnut and Fiddleback Maple, which takes its name from the musical instruments traditionally made from it.
As Morten notes, these factories stand now as “aging monuments to an industrial era that gave way to new economies and changing tastes.” But it’s even nicer to realize that now at least a small part this history will continue to live on in homes across the country.
