Sawkill is dedicated to providing a local source for antique and vintage wood products in the New York City metropolitan and Tri-State area. One of the most important benefits of choosing to use reclaimed woods is the positive effect it will have on the environment, and the increased enjoyment of the woods when the project is complete. You can trust our products in projects that are pursuing the USGBC LEED standard.
Quality antique wood products begin with salvaging the highest grade lumber and timbers from the only source where old growth woods are still available in the U.S. – dismantled19th c. factories, mills, warehouses, tenements and other structures. These rescued woods are expertly milled and controlled for quality at each stage of production.
Careful material selection and precision millwork results in a beautiful, durable product, that carry history, while being transformed into modern building products that we believe are among the finest and most sustainable woods available.
Management
Sawkil is managed by Alan Solomon and Klaas Armster. Klaas has worked with woods his whole life, and the son of the architect Wilfred Armster. A graduate of Wesleyan U., Klaas began his post-grad career helping to run a family Cedar mill, based in Connecticut. Later, his interest in woods, architectural millwork and the environment came together in Armster Reclaimed Lumber Co., one of the first sawmills in the country that is dedicated to re-milling the widest range of antique and vintage woods as a green building material. Klaas also the founder of woodplanet.com, an online industry resource. He is a graduate of Wesleyen University.
Alan has worked in the recycling industry since a young age, beginning with a family scrap metal business north of Boston. He worked in the 1990′s on campaigns ranging from river conservation to electric cars. He entered the wood recycling industry in 2000, following an historic preservation campaign on behalf of an 1830′s building in lower Manhattan (New Yorker Magazine, Jan. 2008). He is a graduate of Boston University.
Origins
Sawkill LLC is named for the site of the first sawmill on Manhattan Island, constructed in 1633 by early Dutch settlers at what is today East 74th St., extending from the East River to Central Park. It was calledSaw Kill (Dutch: Sawmill Creek). Old growth woods continue to be harvested in the New York City area, not from it’s original virgin forests, but from the demolition of of 19th and early 20th c. buildings, which yield some of the finest antique lumber and timber in the country. The historical archive area of the web site contains a background on the Saw-Kill and it’s role in the early logging industry of New York City.