Lakeview Millworks marks major expansion

Lakeview Millworks has doubled-down on its investment in Sisters, expanding its showroom to cover the entire second level of Town Square on Cascade Avenue.

A purveyor of fine doors and windows for a market that extends from the Pacific Northwest south into California and east as far as Minnesota, Lakeview Millworks' expansion creates an extensive new showroom featuring major new product lines.

Lakeview Millworks is now a distributor for the prestigious Kolbe Windows & Doors line - one of only three in the state of Oregon.

"This is a big coup," said owner Brad King.

Kolbe, headquartered in Wisconsin, vets its distributors thoroughly.

"You have to prove yourself," King said.

And prove themselves they did; the showroom now features numerous displays of Kolbe's products - displays the staff of Lakeview Millworks built themselves.

"The reason we went with Kolbe is they are extremely custom," King noted as he demonstrated a European Tilt and Turn window. "They have a lot of capability."

The showroom also features an extensive range of custom entryway doors, geared to the Central Oregon market. King noted that a Barnwood Collection using reclaimed woods has been a popular selection.

"This has really taken off for us," he said.

To enhance the doors, Lakeview Millworks also offers a range of hardware choices, including the newly acquired high-end Rocky Mountain Hardware line.

The company is also working with an outfit called Revelations out of Bend to develop a line of furniture made from reclaimed wood and steel.

The expansion is a vote of confidence both in a resurging housing market and in Sisters.

"We saw a vacuum in the market," King said, noting that many companies went out of business in the Great Recession. "We started working on this really a year ago. People thought we were nuts because the market was so soft, but we saw this vacuum coming."

The remodel itself was a major piece of work.

"We had to re-engineer the whole thing," King said. "We really remodeled the whole floor."

King was determined to keep his showroom in Sisters, though some advised that he move to Bend. He believes in bringing customers from across the region to Sisters in search of his unique products and skilled design and installation services.

"This is a destination showroom," he said. "We're going to draw people to the market here."

Lakeview Millworks will host an open house at the new showroom in Town Square on Thursday, May 2 from 3 to 7 p.m. For more information call 541-549-0968 or visit www.lakeviewmillworks.com.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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