The Pouring Station, Tables & More

Most our custom-made wood pieces are made of American Chestnut, salvaged from old tobacco barns from Smythe County, VA (just across the North Carolina border). These logs were harvested sometime around 1820 to 1840.  For those wood aficionados, the chestnut logs are virgin chestnut not wormy chestnut. This means they were cut before the Blythe that killed the entire chestnut population in the 1920's and 1930's. Even our lounging area has a truly one-of-a-kind table made of a 200+ year old American Chestnut tree root.

 

Symbolic of CV&H’s foundation in the community, chestnut was the wood of choice for outdoor buildings because it would outlast any other wood.

 

The Bench

Next to the pouring station, the bench is a Poplar log which was the top layer of the barn. The trusses would sit on the Poplar logs. These areas were more protected from the weather; so Poplar logs were used in the structures as well. The logs were usually cut within just a few 100 yards of the structure being built, cut with an axe and pulled to the site by horse or oxen. They would then be buck cut with a hand saw which would smooth the ends and cut the log to size.  The Bench still has those original markings.

 

Greeting Stand

The hostess stand is made from an old Black Oak tree that was on the property of Virginia Tech. The tree was leaning on a power line so the tree had to come down before it fell.  Luckily, CV&H has now become it’s home.  Commissioned for CV&H, our Greeting Stand has become an unlikely focal point because of its amazing craftsmanship.

 

Tasting Room

The Heart Pine lumber used was cut from timbers that were used to hold up the 2nd floor of a canning factory in Roanoke, VA. The building was built in 1905. These trees were old growth long leaf pine that stood for 200 plus years which made the growth rings closer together and were much stronger then today's pine. The “Pine smell” of the wood is a sure sign that the wood is Heart Pine and the reddish tint is something today's pine doesn't have.