There’s something undeniably exquisite happening inside — and coming out of — one family-run wood mill in Locust Grove, GA. Mill & Woods is a generations-spanning boutique manufacturer of custom surfaces. The moment a builder, architect, or designer chooses Mill & Woods, a magical story unfolds. It’s a story the wood itself has already begun to tell. We sat down with them to learn about their exclusive access to raw materials sourced from France, their custom offerings, and their top three things to consider when selecting floors.
Mill & Woods floors have been tested and approved by dogs, kiddos, bare feet, and your favorite shoes. Image: Emily Followill | Architect: Rodolfo Castro | Builder: David Lewis Construction | Designer: Anna Booth | Stylist: Eleanor Roper
Stories in Your Home and Your Floors
Mill & Woods is unique in that they oversee all aspects of the manufacturing, milling, and finishing process. The company is a unique partnership between Zack McMurry’s Authentic Reclaimed Wood business stateside and the Bach family’s Chêne de L’est prize French Oak business in Hambach, France. Both family-run shops work in tandem, harvesting and sourcing top-notch wood in their respective countries to create a limitless menu of options for customers.
Working closely with their suppliers, they bring in only the highest quality material available, ensuring beauty and authenticity in every piece. From your home’s kitchen to your favorite local restaurant, Mill & Woods covers residential and commercial projects, big and small.
Mill & Woods’ raw French oak comes from carefully maintained and managed forests throughout Europe, mainly in France. These forests are only harvested once per year, and the trees are selected according to strict standards of quality, suitability, and age. For example, an oak must be a minimum of 25 inches in diameter before it can be harvested, so some trees are between 120 and 150 years old. “Only six forests in France grow these prized French oak hardwoods,” Zack adds. You’re getting slices of French beauty and history with every French Oak purchase.
In the US, their reclaimed material is harvested from iconic buildings, historical structures, textile mills, and distilleries like The Old Crow Bourbon Distillery, Coca-Cola, John Deere, and American Tobacco Factory. “These materials have outlived their original purpose but are ready for a new life and a chance for their stories to be told for years to come,” Zack says. All Mill & Woods hardwood floors are sustainably harvested and made with non-toxic adhesives and finishes.
Mill & Woods’ partnership between Authentic Reclaimed Wood (Zack McMurry, president, is in the back) and Chêne de L’est (French Oak gurus Sebastien and Jean Michel Bach are in the front) means the US gets the rarest and best French Oak. And the team has fun doing it. Image: Mill & Woods
Sourcing quality wood is the most crucial step in the Mill & Woods process. Here, Sebastien Bach inspects their esteemed French Oak. Image: Mill & Woods
For centuries, the Bach family in France (pictured left to right: Raymond Bach, Gabriel Bach, and Jean Michel Bach) has specialized in sourcing prized French oak. Image: Mill & Woods
Fully Bespoke or Ready-to-Ship? Wood for Every Project
Do you want light or dark tones? Smooth, brushed, or scraped patina? Skinny or wide planks? Matte or shiny finish? Straight or diagonal design? Mill & Woods provides a personalized and collaborative experience as a small, family-owned business. Their hands-on approach means they can offer customizable products with short lead times — everyone in the industry’s dream.
Builders and designers the country over adore working with Mill & Woods — both the wood and the people who produce and prep it. Widely acclaimed interior designer Anna Booth says, “Mill & Woods provides the opportunity to customize their product for each project, which isn’t something many hardwood flooring vendors offer, as you are generally picking a selection from a collection. Their approach and responsiveness are unmatched in the industry. And it brings us joy to source locally,” she says.
Used to having a light floor, one client went with Anna’s suggestion of a warmer tone (Dune) in this spectacular staircase. “The clients fell in love with the color and the extra-long random widths,” adds David Lewis, the builder on the project. Image: Emily Followill | Architect: Rudolfo Castro | Builder: David Lewis Construction | Designer: Anna Booth
Using Mill & Woods Makes the Whole Team Happy
David Lewis is a custom home builder who has used Mill & Woods on many projects. “Working with Mill & Woods is truly a dream,” David says. “They take great pride in their product and give each client their full attention. Their patience and eagerness to help clients determine the perfect stain, width, texture, etc., are unmatchable by anyone else in this business. As a builder, I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else.”
One of David’s clients tapped him to build a new home on the same site as her childhood home on a family farm. David brought Mill & Woods’ live-sawn American white oak and champagne into the kids’ bunk room. Image: Emily Followill | Builder: David Lewis Construction | Designer: Anna Booth | Stylist: Eleanor Roper
In this Serenbe home, the couple wanted a light and airy floor to balance the home’s modern and often dark feel. Image: Emily Followill | Architect: Steve Dray | Builder: David Lewis Construction | Designer: Debra Wilbanks | Stylist: Eleanor Roper
More Than Just Home Flooring Projects
Sherry Hart of Sherry Hart Designs has been an interior designer for 30 years. “I have used Mill & Woods floors at least five times! I love the customer service and working with them. Everyone on the team is detailed about the whole process, and there are many different colors and styles to work with.” And floors are only the most obvious surface you can cover with their authentic, patina-rich hardwood.
Mill & Woods’ material has creatively ended up on ceilings, wall cladding, fireplaces, beams, bar tops, shelving, furniture, and interior and exterior doors. Image: Emily Followill | Builder: Ladisic Fine Homes | Designer: Sherry Hart
Sherry used Shou Sugi Ban wood on this statement-making front door and a delicious design of herringbone American white oak on the floors. Image: Emily Followill | Builder: Ladisic Fine Homes | Designer: Sherry Hart
Durable Finishes for the Win
“Another advantage of a Mill & Woods floor is the durability of their finishes,” David continues. “I wish everyone knew that flooring manufacturers can produce many more finishes in their factories than a site finish can accomplish. Having a pre-finished floor from Mill & Woods gives the client, designer, and builder the confidence that the wood selected will be what is delivered,” David says. Sherry echoes this thought. “I love that their floors are pre-finished. The job site does not have to be shut down for a week or two to complete the floors. Once they’re in, they are covered and protected,” she says.
Top 3 Things to Consider When Selecting Floors
Besides the subfloor on which the floors will be installed, Zack says to consider plank width/length, finish, and the lighting in your home.
- Wide and extra-long planks mean fewer joints in the overall floor. The fewer joints, the more unified, distinctive, and stunning the floor looks. Short lengths can often produce a busy, choppy look.
- Pick a maintainable finish you can live on without worrying about “damaging it.” Oil finishes provide a natural look that can be maintained without sanding. This is ideal for hiding wear and tear like scratches, dents, and dings that come with everyday life.
- Light can change the overall appearance of your hardwood flooring. The warm-toned floor you fell in love with in the Mill & Woods showroom may show a much cooler tone once installed, depending on your home’s natural and artificial light.
Mill & Woods lets you see samples of their wood in your home to determine how light will affect your choices. Image: Emily Followill | Architect: Steve Dray | Builder: David Lewis Construction | Designer: Debra Wilbanks | Stylist: Eleanor Roper
The Mill & Woods Difference
Every Mill & Woods option is 100% wood all the way through and consists entirely of natural materials. This means it lasts longer, looks striking, and is better for the environment. Aside from the undeniable warmth and splendor that wood floors add to any home, they are the sustainable option for homeowners, builders, and designers. Research by the Environmental Protection Agency even shows that wood flooring improves your home’s overall air quality.
Mill & Woods helps write your home’s story. It starts in the esteemed French oak forests and the creative reclaimed wood collection. It continues in their factory, where they cut, treat, and finish each piece of wood by hand. When it’s time to bring your dream to life, their team crafts your order and helps you every step of the way. It’s an easy, seamless, and fun flooring experience that will leave you asking one question: what surface can I cover in Mill & Woods next?
Discover more about Mill & Woods:
- website: millandwoods.com
- phone: (800) 283-6038
- email: [email protected]
– sponsored by Mill & Woods
