Crafting Forever Furniture: Inside Woodcastle Furniture

Woodcastle Furniture crafts American-made “forever furniture” in their factory located between Albany and Corvallis. 

In the age of fast food, fast fashion, and flat-pack furniture, Woodcastle stands out for its focus on using quality materials, classic design, and skilled craftsmanship. 

Ron Loe founded Woodcastle Forever Furniture in 1978, initially working out of a Corvallis garage. The business grew, and Woodcastle moved into its current location In the mid-eighties. Ron remains at the helm, and some of Ron’s original designs are still sought after. 

Currently, Woodcastle’s factory team crafts around 400 pieces of solid wood furniture per week. Some of that is for individual consumers, but much of it is custom projects for commercial enterprises and resorts. 

Quality Furniture for Happy Guests

Around one-third of Woodcastle’s business serves the hospitality industry. Hotels and resorts invest in their furniture since they need pieces that are stylish but durable enough to handle the high turnover of guests. They know they won’t need to replace it until they change their decor. For example, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort commissioned new furnishings for a new look, but they are still using the armoire that Woodcastle built over 25 years ago. 

In addition to hotels and resorts, Woodcastle serves quality niche furniture retailers like Dania and Scandinavian Designs and sells directly to the consumer through their showroom and company store.

The quality that four-star hotels require also works wonderfully in a more intimate guest house. Fernwood Circle Guest Houses feature Woodcastle furniture, especially beds. We recently toured Woodcastle’s showroom and interviewed Korey Alexander, who is Woodcastle’s Retail Manager and Senior Project Manager.

Forever Furniture: The Woodcastle Difference

Korey explained that Woodcastle furniture is “forever furniture built to last 100 years.” It stays out of landfills and may even be passed down as an heirloom. This longevity is partially why Woodcastle’s business is largely focused on commercial and hospitality client projects. Consumer retail is a smaller but successful niche. 

Korey explained that individuals who buy a bedroom set are usually happy, “they’ll usually come back, but it won’t be for a while because the furniture does last.”

Durable American-made furniture initially requires an investment, but the products retain their beauty for decades. Here’s why…

It starts with pure solid wood

Woodcastle uses solid, high-quality wood like ash, maple, and cherry. Most of it is sourced from the Pacific Northwest, with the exception of cherry wood from Pennsylvania.

“The ash and maple usually come from within a 50-mile radius of our factory,” according to Korey. Not only are these woods durable, but each has its own attractive hue. Woodcastle places a nontoxic lacquer on the wood to protect it and enhance its beauty.

 

“It really doesn’t need a whole lot of maintenance with the lacquer we put on it,” Korey explained, “ it just needs a light dusting every once in a while. So as long as you just keep it clean and take care of it. It’s gonna last a long time.”

Timeless designs for form and function

Classic designs don’t go out of style as quickly as some other designs.It’s a good thing since the design choices contribute to the furniture’s lasting power. 

For example, Woodcastle’s drawers feature a French dovetail design and an inner web cage within each individual drawer. This design stops the wood from shifting even when exposed to extreme changes in humidity and temperature. 

Fernwood Circle Guest Houses often feature beds crafted by Woodcastle. Woodcastle doesn’t use screws. Instead, they use a simple European-style slat system with corner brackets. Gravity keeps everything in place rather than small breakable parts like screws. They also use extra support in the center of the bed. This design feature enables the bed to support any person’s body weight.

Woodcastle furniture arrives fully assembled, so it’s much sturdier than modern mass-produced flat-pack particle board furniture. 

Experienced and skilled crafters

Finally, the team is highly skilled and experienced at what they do. Woodcastle’s founder, Ron, remains the owner and chief designer. Korey’s father works for Woodcastle, and he started working for Woodcastle while still in high school. He is still with the company more than a decade later. 

“Our core team has over 140 years of combined experience,” said Korey. In other words, they know the ins and outs of each design, crafting each piece with precision. Many of the experienced team members have been with Woodcastle through a roller coaster of ups and downs, including rebuilding after their 1996 factory fire. 

Korey had a few thoughts about why Woodcastle retains its team. He likes the family feel of the company. “You know, for a lot of people, it’s like, Oh, I gotta go work. It’s Monday, but it’s never been like that for me here.”

Doing Well by Doing Good: Small Businesses Make a Difference

With so few companies manufacturing in the U.S.A., a company like Woodcastle that sources materials and manufactures locally is already ahead of the game when it comes to sustainability and supporting their region’s economy. 

Sustainable manufacturing with safety in mind

As a family-oriented business, Woodcastle’s manufacturing process is set up with worker safety and health in mind. These same decisions result in following environmentally sustainable practices that are good for the consumer’s health. Korey gave an example of one of these decisions. Ron has always sought out lacquer that doesn’t contain lead, formaldehyde, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are often found in other stains and lacquers. This comes from a commitment to safety for the team who applies the lacquer as well as consumer safety.

Local collaborations and sourcing

Not only does Woodcastle source most of the wood from within 50 miles of the factory, they also mill and treat the wood on site. When their custom projects require help with specialized tasks they look to other local and Oregon companies.

One of their main collaborators is their sister company Wood Bear Manufacturing, which is operated by Ron’s son BJ Loe. Wood Bear was founded to manufacture parts for Woodcastle, and now, the small team works with other commercial enterprises that need expertly and efficiently crafted wood parts. 

How Woodcastle and Fernwood Circle Collaborate

Like Woodcastle, Alexandra Eder and Fernwood Circle Property Management also collaborate with local vendors whenever possible. Alexandra has used Woodcastle furnishings, especially beds since she went into business in 2013. 

Providing a good night’s sleep is a key promise to Fernwood Circle’s guests. Alexandra only uses well-made beds, premium mattresses, and freshly pressed high-cotton count bed linens. A standard mass-produced flat-pack bed just doesn’t cut it. 

Guest house beds need to be sturdy, attractive, and comfortable. The way they are made matters. Since the housekeepers change the bedding with every stay, the design needs to allow for an efficient change without hurting their hands. 

Alexandra has known Woodcastle’s Ron Loe since college and has found that the elegant designs fit Fernwood Circle Guest Houses’ needs perfectly.

“They’re solid wood, locally made and beautiful!” Alexandra said, “They’re lifelong products.” 

Over the years, Alexandra has developed strong relationships with the sales team at Woodcastle. She finds them friendly, insightful, and helpful. Thanks to this relationship, the pricing is also competitive. She always passes those savings on to her clients when staging and setting up a new guest house property.

Interested in renting out your furnished Corvallis home as a guest house? Connect with Alexandra to learn more.