Historical lumber to be recycled

A furniture maker in the Willamette Valley will preserve the historic lumber salvaged from Sisters buildings.

Thanks to efforts from Sisters resident Linda Faria, a bit of local history will be preserved for the community to enjoy. Lumber extracted from dilapidated buildings in Sisters will be showing up in other projects around town.

Faria, who has called Sisters home for the past 13 years, recently purchased the lot on the corner of Hood Avenue and Pine Street. The four buildings on the property were in varying stages of disrepair, and Faria decided to clean up the lot.

"I hated to think of someone coming in and just 'dozing down the old buildings," said Faria. "So I decided to take the lumber and utilize it."

Part of the lumber will resurface as wainscoting in The Palace on the corner of Cascade Avenue and Fir Street (also recently purchased by Faria). The rest will be recycled into barnwood furniture and offered for sale in the new 1880s Gift Gallery inside The Palace.

"I wanted the wood to still be a visible thing," said Faria.

Two sisters from the valley will craft the old lumber into rustic furniture. Faria sells their work at her Buffalo Horn art gallery.

A bit of the lot's history was unearthed through an environmental report done on the property.

"A man named Howard Trowbridge had the shacks erected immediately after World War II, when he returned from military service with his wife," Faria said.

"The original buildings were described by Trowbridge's nephew as 'four walls with which to keep out the rain.' There was no foundation, power or running water."

According to the report, the buildings were later reconstructed and updated. The Trowbridges lived on the property until 1964.

"There was never a bathroom in the house," said Faria. "The building closest to the alley was the outhouse. We actually got some nice boards from the inside and the ceiling of that building."

Besides recycling the lumber, Faria has plans for some of the contents of the old buildings.

"We gathered boxes full of stuff we found in the houses," said Faria, "Canning jars, old magazines -- even old distributor caps. I will be using some of the memorabilia as decorations to add to the nostalgia of the gift gallery."