Image credit: Homewood
It starts with a seed, this story. A simple story from the outside, but when you break it down, you notice the intricacies of this miraculous tiny speck of earth, or rather a tiny embryonic plant, that holds a life more magnificent than we could imagine.
The seed in this story was planted along the Breede River Valley and it began to germinate and grow. It witnessed floods, storms, and families of Sugarbirds and Fish Eagles. What the seed did not realise was that by being an alien invasive tree, it was going to consume more water than necessary. And so, the intricacies begin, all leading up to the chapter of sustainable hardwood furniture.
This alien invasive tree that made its home on the banks of the Breede River Valley was a River Red Gum, an Australian-born wood that has a dark brown colour with rich red undertones shining through. This is where the stories merge – the young seed, then a grand tree, is found by Homewood. The stories align through Homewood’s support of the Working for Water Programme, an initiative of the Western Cape Government that seeks to tackle the issue of alien invasive trees and their destruction of local environments and water reserves.
“By making use of alien invasive wood to make our luxury handcrafted hardwood furniture, we get to give back to the earth by assisting in the freeing up of local waterways and give back to people by creating employment.”
The tree became a threat, and through Homewood’s support and advocacy of purchasing alien invasive biomass, the tree turned into a glorious garden bench, approximately 1234 km away from where it was born, and now finds its home in Cathedral Peak, overlooking the Drakensberg Mountain range.
Image credit: Homewood
The intricacies of this story, and all stories alike, lie in that of the hands and minds that were involved in the cycle of these alien invasive woods, and how they got to being hardwood furniture that last a lifetime.
This typical cycle of a tree’s journey starts with the tree itself, and then moves to the sawmilling, then the drying, then of course to our Homewood factory, where the crafting and design begins. The outcome of this journey, this intricate story, is a final piece of furniture that, although now looks very different, continues to tell its story and at the same time writes a new one, too.
The Homewood Promise
Perfection takes time, but we promise you, it will be well worth the wait.
We’re not here to win a race or get you your furniture in record-breaking time, nor do we support instant gratification.
We are not a pizza place. We do not run an assembly line. Our furniture is meticulously handmade, and we refuse to compromise on quality for speed.
We cannot guarantee you industry standard lead times, but we can promise you beautiful, luxury, handcrafted Homewood furniture we can both be extremely proud of.
Your sales manager will keep you up to date every step of the production process, so you can be involved in the journey that transforms wood to works of art.
