New York Magazine

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Best Vintage Lumber

  • M. Fine Lumber Co.

    1301 Metropolitan Ave., Greenpoint; 718-381-5200

    Beams made from longleaf yellow pine—incredibly strong, incredibly handsome—were the lumber of choice for East Coast builders a century ago, and by World War II those slow-growing trees had just about been used up. But M. Fine Lumber gives them a second life. When old buildings are torn down, Fine comes in to grab the best beams and planks, carting them to its 60,000-square-foot yard in Greenpoint and turning them into flooring and paneling good for another hundred years. The Fines have paired gorgeous old timbers with similarly glorious new projects: a living room for Calvin Klein, a vaulted ceiling for Julian Schnabel, shelving for Kate Spade. “No one does exactly what we do on our scale,” says Merritt Fine, great-grandson of founder Myer Fine. “We buy everything, and it helps everyone—the seller, me, the buyer, the environment.”

Next: Way to Make Those Nights at Home More Bearable

Join the Discussion

Read All Comments | Add Yours

Recent Comments On This Article

See All | Add Yours

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine

Advertising
Order the Issue Today

Cover of New York Magazine's Best of New York issue

Order This Issue

Other Best Of Guides

Where can you find the city’s top dog groomer? Last-minute tailor? Beef tongue? We eat, drink, dance, shop, shvitz, and trampoline our way around the city, not to mention poll scores of in-the-know colleagues, hard-partying friends, opinionated family members, and, this year, a team of guest expert bloggers to bring you answers to all of the above questions, and hundreds more, in the form of our annual “Best of New York” issue.

Read More...