Private residence, the Berkshires
Katsura Dining Table, Berkshires
2019
November 2019. The sun was still low in the sky as we drove through the wilds of the Berkshires. Then we passed a moose crossing sign. We weren't in Kansas anymore.
It had been a long ride from Long Island. The mountains out there looked nothing like home.
My friend and colleague Joe Falco came along for the trip. Together we carried a big live edge table up the front steps and into the home of a couple who had found us on Craigslist.
At the time, it was the farthest we'd ever gone to deliver a piece.
The table was special too. Two bookmatched slabs of katsura, plus a matching bench.
Katsura is native to Japan and China. It has become a popular ornamental tree here, loved for its heart-shaped leaves and bright fall color. In autumn, the fallen leaves even smell like burnt sugar.
The wood is beautiful, a warm medium brown with a fine, even grain. But mature trees are still rare, and so is the lumber.
We were lucky. A katsura was one of the first logs we ever salvaged. It was the first slab we ever milled, in August 2018. Our maiden voyage.
