Tag Archive for: Cypress

Sarasota Art Museum's Engineered Floor from The Goodwin Company

Sarasota Art Museum's Engineered Floor from The Goodwin Company

“I am writing to offer my highest praise, and most profound gratitude to The Goodwin Company for their partnership on the creation of the floors of our new art museum. The beautiful floors of our 23,000 sq ft exhibition galleries were lovingly crafted of exquisite reclaimed heart pine, salvaged from the joists of the 1926 M. Leo Elliott designed former Sarasota High School.

As an art museum director and curator, meticulously designing every aspect of the gallery experience was paramount to the success of the project. After seeing the gorgeous raw lumber during the demo phase of the project, centuries-old, I became committed to repurposing this special wood—from an historic, aesthetic and environmental standpoint, this was unquestionably the right thing to do.

But it was not easy.

We were so fortunate to find our partners at The Goodwin Company to bring this ambitious project to fruition. The floors are beautiful in their own right, and they provide an elegant platform and framing device for the wide range of contemporary art we install there. They complement, but never compete with the art. We could not be more pleased with the results.

Goodwin understood the complexity involved in adaptive reuse, and the particular challenges involved in repurposing a 1920s era building into a high-performance building, with the necessary environmental conditions for an art museum, and the heavy foot traffic of a public space. During construction Goodwin brought the first technical director of the National Wood Floor Association to meet with the entire team and assist with the subfloor, sound attenuation and insulation requirements. Once the floor was installed, Goodwin brought the finish manufacturer’s team onsite to consult with the Museum’s curatorial and facilities team to ensure the long-term preservation of this fine art environment.

In addition to their consummate professionalism and technical expertise, the Goodwin team was a pure delight to work with, always going above and beyond to creatively problem-solve and to ensure the highest quality product possible.

If you are considering The Goodwin Company for your project, I would be delighted to share more about this journey, should you wish to discuss.

With best regards,

Anne-Marie Russell, Founding Executive Director, Sarasota Art Museum

Learn more about this project!

Tree Fest at Swamphead Brewery 11

Goodwin was proud to be a corporate sponsor of the 3rd Annual Tree Fest , a yearly event to benefit the Alachua Conservation Trust.  Tree Fest, presented by Solar Impact, was hosted by our friends over at Swamphead Brewery. We were excited to collaborate with owner Luke Kemper and marketing director Brandon Nappy on this event.

A few years back, Goodwin provided our antique wood for Swamphead Brewery’s tasting room, affectionately named, “The Wetlands”. The focal point of the room is the feature wall behind the bar which represents every wood Goodwin offers.

Swamphead

The bar top is absolutely gorgeous and was handcrafted from heart cypress and heart pine log rounds hand scribed into one another for a 3D effect.

Swamphead

The seating area is clad in Goodwin’s River-Recovered® Heart Cypress Character, while the window surrounds are a mix of naily heart pine and select heart cypress.

It was exciting for us to see just how much Swamphead Brewery has grown into becoming a staple in the Gainesville community.  We were certainly honored to partner with them on Tree Fest.

Oh, and Amy Lamb of Native House Photography recently took some incredible photos of Swamphead Brewery.  Be sure to check them out:

Another Sinker Cypress Creation 4

Take a look at these beautiful, precision milled sinker cypress boards. We used them to construct nine benches for Bok Tower Gardens.

The Sweet Sound of Heart Cypress 2

Dan Arrington, a Native American style flute maker who owns the business, Northern Lights…Southern Spirits, handcrafted two magnificent works of musical art with Goodwin’s River-Recovered® Heart Cypress:

RR-Cypress-079-2015-C

The mouthpiece is spalted Maple and Zircote. The block (the part on the top held on using deer hide ties) is a free-form shape made using Redwood burl mounted on a spalted Maple/Zircote pedestal with a base of Easter Red Cedar. The inlay “dots” above and below the finger holes are Zircote and Myrtle.

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The top two are the cypress flutes, while the slightly smaller one on the bottom was made using Tasmanian Blackwood (Australia). A yardstick is included to give a sense of size. In the land of Native American style flutes, these 1 1/4″ bore instruments are considered large.

Listen to Dan’s daughter playing the second River-Recovered Heart Cypress Flute – it sounds absolutely beautiful:

Dan will be vending his flutes at the Alligator Warrior Festival in O’Leno State Park in just a few weeks (http://www.alligatorfest.org/) where he will have an opportunity to put this work in front of truly gifted flute players.

Dan, you are a true artisan!  Thank you for sharing your elegant craft with us.

The Local Public House: River-Recovered Heart Cypress Bar Tops make an Impression 11

Talk about adaptive re-use!  When San Antonio, Florida chef Curtis Beebe and his wife, Rebecca, purchased the old San Ann Market with their sights set on opening a fresh, new eatery they really went all out.  What emerged is The Local Public House.  And local it is.  From pork sourced out of Avon Park to greens that are grown in Brooksville, this little gastro-pub walks the walk.  They even serve 14 ever-changing Florida draft beers, including a couple from our friends over at Swamphead Brewery in Gainesville.

The best part is that when you saddle up to the bar to enjoy your home grown craft brew you’ll be saddling up to one of several thousand year old slabs of River-Recovered® Heart Cypress; perfected by nature, recovered from Florida’s spring fed rivers and milled by Goodwin Company.  Now that’s local!

If You Guessed Bok Tower Gardens, You Were Correct! 27

Remember when we asked you to guess what our latest “gentle giant” was being transformed into? Hint: “her new home will be at a National Historic Landmark”.

If you guessed Bok Tower Gardens, you were correct!

Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida announced its expansion plans last year. Today, construction is in full force! Goodwin is proud to be providing headers, window sills, trim and siding for the new children’s interpretive center and outdoor demonstration kitchen. Our River-Recovered® Heart Cypress is the perfect complement to the rich culture and history of Bok Tower Gardens.

Goodwin is in the process of milling cypress for the project. Enjoy this video which offers a special inside look at the process:

And, check out these photos of the first run of siding as the transformation continues:

 

Read more about the expansion: http://boktowergardens.org/blog/gardens-announces-expansion-plans-on-85th-anniversary/

Pecky Cypress Pairs Perfectly with Distinct Wines 17

Hurray for Sarah and Chris Aschliman who have just opened the long anticipated Island Grove Winery Tasting House on state road 301 in beautiful Island Grove, Florida on the shores of Orange and Lochloosa lakes!  For several years, Island Grove Winery has been North Central Florida’s premier winemaker specializing in fine blueberry wines using the freshest blueberries grown on their own Florida farms.

In appointing the tasting house, Sarah and Chris turned to Goodwin Company in search of something that would help to dress it with some regional flare.  Ultimately, they chose to deck out the front of the long tasting counter/bar with Goodwin’s River-Recovered® Pecky Heart Cypress.  Hundreds of years ago Florida’s many lake fronts and river banks were populated with a noble fraternity of 100ft. tall and a thousand or more year old Bald Cypress (taxodium distichum) trees; the true giants of the Southeastern swamps.  The rich color, swirling grain and elliptical voids of the antique cypress pop off the counter front bordered by a bold white trim.  It is at one time elegant, relaxed and mysterious.

We think Sarah and Chris have done a wonderful job with the whole space.  Go visit them sometime soon and enjoy a glass of Sorta Sweet or Kinda Dry.  And look for Island Grove Winery Tasting House to host an official grand opening sometime early this fall.

Side note: After visiting the tasting house, turn left onto the Cross Creek road and visit the Marjorie Kinnian Rawlings State Historic Site in Cross Creek; as bucolic a place as you’ll ever stumble upon and a previous Goodwin Company client to boot.

Admiring the Work of a Craftsman Using Goodwin Wood 5

We recently caught up with Gainesville, Florida craftsman, Steve Kessler, in his shop on a hot & humid July morning.  Steve was finishing up a door project for some clients who are doing a large renovation in their Coconut Grove home in Miami, Florida.

These folks knew exactly what they wanted and commissioned Steve to build their eight doors out of old growth, virgin, bald cypress.  Steve, of course, turned to the Goodwin Company.  We supplied him with tightly grained, thousand-year-old, River-Recovered® Heart Cypress in both vertical and select grain (quarter sawn and plain sawn).

Steve’s doors came with a lot of specifications too.  Some louvers were called out as working while others were faux.  Some louvers had a double face while others had a single.  Steve even found a miller who could mold a single louver disguised as a trio and he used a terrific little joiner called a Festool Domino XL to marry the stiles and rails together.

We think the doors turned out great.  Nothing beats the natural beauty and durability of old growth heart cypress.  Architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and A. Hays Town specified it in nearly every residential project they designed.  And in the hands of an experienced professional like Mr. Kessler, it is always bound to shine.  To contact Steve for your next project call him at 352-214-6386.

Wouldn’t you just love some of these in your home?

Take a Look at this Beautiful Heart Cypress 1

This River-Recovered® Heart Cypress Select trim is being milled and packaged for a new children’s interpretive center and outdoor demonstration kitchen at Bok Tower Gardens. Goodwin is providing siding and trim for both buildings, which were designed by Lake/Flato Architects. Henkelman Construction of Lakeland is the contractor.

Stay tuned…we will post more photos as this exciting project progresses!

 

Gentle Giant Update: The Transformation Begins… 2

Remember the “Gentle Giant” that was pulled from the Withlacoochee River last winter? Well, we’ve milled her and are using her for a big project. Here is how she looks now:

Any guesses as to what she is transforming into? Hint: Her new home will be at a National Historic Landmark.

Give us your best guess! We will reveal new photos when the project is complete.

Cypress – “The Wood Eternal” 3

Cypress has earned the distinction of being known as, “The Wood Eternal.”  The Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association’s 1938 handbook titled, Tide Water Red Cypress, eloquently describes its durability:

For over a thousand years, the original massive Cypress doors of Saint Peter’s Church in Rome swung on their hinges. They were still in a perfect state of preservation when replaced with ornamental bronze.”

In fact, recent Cypress log excavations discovered sound wood buried over 100,000 years ago along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. The handbook, which makes for very interesting reading and I highly recommend, also references the termite resistance of the wood:

Cypressene—the essential oil of Cypress—makes Cypress highly repellent to termites. Cypress timbers in 300-year-old Spanish buildings in Florida have resisted termites, while connecting timbers of other woods were destroyed.”

Goodwin uses Cypress and pine for both interior and exterior applications. The Villages, a retirement community in Florida, features Goodwin’s Cypress and pine exteriors on one of their recent projects, Brownwood. The logs on the cabin, the posts in front of the plants and the bandstand ceiling are all heartpine. The bandstand benches, the cabin doors, and other siding are heart Cypress.
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Antique Cypress Enhances Beach Property

Utilizing the deeper and varied shades of River Recovered® Midnight Cypress wood, Dave Miller created this table for his clients’ coastal location.  The legs are made from reclaimed heart pine.  We appreciate pictures of fine finished products