Black Walnut: America’s Only Domestic Dark Hardwood
Walnut is really our only domestic dark wood, and its usage has an interesting history. For starters, Black Walnut trees produce a chemical, juglone, which inhibits the growth of other vegetation under the tree’s canopy, allowing it to grow without competition. Some live to 200 years; not as long as Oaks, perhaps, some of which have lived to 1,000 years, but still long-lived. Young trees can grow 2–3 feet per year, while growth slows as they get older. As usual, overcutting did away with most of the old-growth trees. The use of Black Walnut lumber has ebbed and flowed with the popularity of dark vs. light wood.
Black Walnut in Victorian Back Bay Homes
From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, the wood was very fashionable in dark, ornate Victorian interiors, used for doors, stairs, casings, baseboards, and elaborate fireplace mantels. This was the era of construction of the Back Bay mansions and townhomes. Having renovated over 30 of them, I often found the original Walnut buried under countless coats of white paint. Stripping ornate trim was a messy, labor-intensive process; however, the results were worth it. There was also a lot of Gumwood used back then, also a dark but reddish wood, and generally cheaper.
How Walnut’s Popularity Has Changed Over the Decades
In the 1920s through the ’40s, tastes moved towards lighter woods, leading many trendy, if shortsighted, owners to slap on the white paint. The Danish-style furniture craze of the 1950s–’70s brought a big comeback in the use of Black Walnut, only to fall out of favor as being considered old-fashioned during the ’80s and ’90s. From 2000 to today, Black Walnut has enjoyed a major resurgence.
Why Black Walnut Lumber Is So Valuable
Its wood became, and remains, extremely valuable. Old-growth Black Walnut, used as ornamental trees flanking rural farmhouses, were sometimes staked out, felled and stolen, as a prime butt (lower trunk) log could bring as much as $25K! Now, these trees are grown commercially for their prized wood. Availability seems to have improved somewhat, when not too long ago, high-grade Walnut was hard to obtain, especially that free of lighter streaks. Whenever some became available at one of Barney & Carey’s hardwood wholesalers, I stocked up on all I could afford to buy.
Black Walnut Boards, Slabs and Timbers in Stock in Avon, MA
Today, I’m happy to say that we have a very good inventory of Black Walnut in stock. In addition to 4/4 and 5/4 rough-sawn and finished boards of most sizes, we also have a nice selection of wide and thick slabs for bars, tables and counters. Even harder to find are our heavy timbers for fireplace mantels, etc. In that area of our building, you can find many pieces not only in Walnut but in Oak, Cherry, Sapele, Ambrosia Maple, etc. As I reported in an earlier blog, we even have ultra-rare American Elm beams and slabs. As usual, I cannot too highly suggest that you come to Avon and see this inventory for yourselves. We never get tired of watching our customers’ surprise at the unusual things we have here!
Keevin Geller, CEO
Barney & Carey Co.
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