Twenty-five years ago, when building his family’s home in Oldmans Township, N.J., Guy Gaudreau crafted the flooring by hand. He drove to Vermont and cut down the white ash trees from his father’s wood lot. He oversaw the kiln-drying of the logs, the sawing of the planks, the molding of the panels — every step of the process.
The result is well-polished and smooth, except for a single spot.
Tucked away in the kitchen, the spot once contained a knot, which popped free, leaving behind a hole the size of a quarter. Naturally it became a source of material for Guy’s two sons, John and Matty, who enjoyed trying to disrupt his usual even keel. The brothers would jokingly question their dad’s choice of wood, talking about how it was cheap, until a riled-up Guy fired back, defending his work.
“That’s the way the boys were,” Guy says, chuckling.
Full of humor. Full of life.
