Grand Bohemian Charleston

February 15, 2016 by Guest User

One project we assisted on was the interior of the Grand Bohemian Charleston's upscale Élevé bar and wine tasting room. The Grand Bohemian belongs to hotelier Richard Kessler's Autograph Collection of boutique, designer hotels spanning the globe, each of which offer a cultured lifestyle along with their elaborate rooms, furnished with Bohemian-resemblant decor.

Photo courtesy of the Grand Bohemian Charleston.

The first of the collection was the Mansion on Forsyth, and quickly caught on elsewhere. We've worked with Mr. Kessler for a variety of projects, from flooring to custom furniture.

For this hotel in particular, we provided reclaimed heart pine for the wall and overhang of the main bar, which accents the rustic charm of the whole establishment. It's quite flattering to us that our antique and aged wood serves as a centerpiece.

We also built a massive refectory table out of one of our reclaimed antique factory worktables, which now serves as workspace and seat of their magnificent wine blending room. This room also features two large reclaimed doors we made and fitted.

In the corner you can see one of two sliding barn doors we made out of reclaimed wood. They were custom ordered specially for this blending room, and look great! Also in this room is a custom heart pine shutter to accent the wine-supplies.

The wine blending process has struck vino-thusia throughout the Charleston area, with quite a few wonderful articles about the actual process. At the hotel, classes are available to learn the craft and enjoy your own mixture. You can read about it (and see some nice pictures of the table!) here. The hotel is, in fact, the first stand-alone hotel offering wine mixing classes in the United States. You can learn more or sign up on the Wine Blending site.

With the complexity of the process, it's relieving that the immense size of the table has enough room to accommodate, and leave all wine mixers and mixing comfortable.

If you happen to be in Charleston, looking for a place to stay or a breathtaking bar to visit, think about Élevé, and tell us what you think about the wood, doors, shutter and table!

Gerald's Pig & Shrimp: Reclaimed Beams and Columns

February 12, 2016 by Guest User

A few years ago we supplied some beautiful reclaimed heart pine beams and columns for our friends at Gerald's Pig & Shrimp, when they moved to Tybee Island.

The wood and beams are extremely old, sturdy, and look great in their current home!

Gerald's Pig & Shrimp sells barbecue and locally caught seafood on Tybee Island.

"Yes, the atmosphere of this stand is unexpected, and one you may not think you should try. But trust us, you really should. Do not miss this spot in all its funkdom." —A review of Gerald's in an article (see below) titled "Tybee Island: Going Back In Time"

It is an exceptional eatery, earning award after mention after anecdote after satisfied gustation, and its location assures magnifies it's character. For those of you who haven't been to Tybee, the only adequate description available is the phrase "Tybee Time" as a form of life, a bar (featuring frozen alcoholic slushies), a complaint, a sutra, a mantra, a suda, and a kind of spiritual exercise (for example, this article titled "Living on Tybee Time"). The present author, himself, learned to swim in one this environment's many semi-stagnant tidal pools. I hope that it can be inferred how excited we were to help Gerald.

Gerald himself has an interesting Savannah story, taken from his website, "Back in the early 90’s Gerald Schantz, a Savannah native, a Vietnam era Navy veteran, a professional stained glass artisan and local theatre thespian happened upon an opportunity to cater a private party for the cast and crew of “This Old House” which John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was throwing. Before the event was over, Gerald found himself talking to the show’s producer who commissioned him to handle the company’s wrap party in Monterey Square. The event was so successful, the entrepreneur was able to purchase the first of several custom grills on wheels that formed the beginnings of his rolling catering service, GERALD’S CHUCKWAGON."

So it should be obvious how great of an opportunity it was to help out such a fascinating person with such a spectacular restaurant.

You can find see more on their Facebook.

Reclaimed Antique Pine: "Haint Blue"

January 13, 2016 by Guest User

While our stock of antique flooring and wood was being sorted, I came across these great old boards of heart pine, salvaged from two-hundred year old porches, and still bearing their old patina of "porch-ceiling blue."

Now this pleasant blue-green color did not always bear that name. In the South, it's traditionally called "haint blue," and bears a historically and supernaturally significant history.

The word "haint" comes from the Gullah, a group of African American freed or run-away slaves that inhabited the coastal South East, especially in South Carolina, and the Savannah area, and means a haunt, ghost, or spirit.

Haunt-blue painted ceiling of the Owens-Thomas House's carriage-house. Photo courtesy of David McSpadden. — Haunt-blue painted ceiling of the Owens-Thomas House's carriage-house. Photo courtesy of David McSpadden.

The color, made from indigo and other local ingredients, was applied to the undersides of porch ceilings, and the interior of Gullah homes in order to provide a barrier for spirits.

Savannah, of course, is renowned for its haunted buildings, and is considered one of the most haunted cities in the country, thus haint blue was applied all throughout the historic district of the city to keep the supernatural denizens from taking up unwanted residence.

Haint-blue found in the Owens-Thomas House's carriage house, still visible after hundreds of years. Photo credit here.

Another stunning image of the color. Photo credit here.

These supernatural protective measures became so ubiquitous, that even the famous Owens-Thomas house's carriage house, then the slave's quarters, was painted with it, and is one of the larger examples of original haint-blue paint remaining.

We've taken to reusing original boards and pieces of timber still coated in the paint, for example with this reclaimed heart pine long Farm Table, with a salvaged and repurposed porch-wood skirt:

Or this small reclaimed heart pine castored console table, with an old frame we've reused, and a historic bluish hue:

We love reusing this color in our projects, the color gives a warmth to the wood, and the presence of the color is a reminder, though its purpose is to prevent revenants from returning, of the specter of history always present and rarely seen.

If you're interested, or have a project in mind, please feel free to contact us!