Our History
Where Things Began
Pat Fontenot started in 1990 salvaging structures in our community and turning that material into various products from custom tables to exposed beams. Pat has been part of several notable salvage projects through the years including the Claremont riding stables in Central Park and 443 Greenwich Street in Manhattan.
The business has evolved substantially in 30 years as our product list has grown from basic custom millworks to a wide range of products that we offer today.
A New Generation
OWA is now run by his son Ben Fontenot, who has been helping change the reclaimed market across the US. Ben has always had a passion for salvage lumber and the beauty behind it. He has worked with demolition teams across the USA from a young age and recently helped salvage Shapleigh Hardware in St. Louis.
As the reclaimed market began to change after COVID, Ben started to implement thermally modified lumber into the OWA product lineup. His innovative Smart Beam brand has transformed the beam market while maintaining a sustainable lumber source that fits our green business model.
Honoring Our Heritage
Most of the salvage material we source was once a vast forest stretching across most of the South. This lumber would be used to fuel the Industrial Revolution, from building homes and factories to dairy barns in the Midwest. Some of this virgin growth pine would even make its way to the beaches of Normandy as Higgins boats.
The reclaimed community has always found ways of preserving this unique material by creating flooring, architectural timbers, doors, moulding, and much more. Our goal has always been to preserve our nation’s forests by creating sustainable forest products including our newest product, Smart Beams.
