For most of us, a fallen tree may only be a burden and an old, empty building may just be an eyesore. But to others–including a trio of woodworking businesses on Maryland’s Eastern Shore–they are raw materials that can be shaped into beautiful wooden furniture, cooking tools, art, and interior design elements.

“If wood that probably would have gone to the dump or get chopped up as firewood gets repurposed as a mantel or a floor, it gets to live another life,” said Corey Hall, general manager of the Queen Anne-based Wood Ingenuity, one of several custom woodworking operations with a focus on salvaging wood from around the Delmarva region.

Hall recalls a recent job involving an old tree on a family farm that the team had converted into flooring for the client’s home. The client told Hall that he had grown up with that tree and now his children would, too.

A fallen tree on a family farm is also how Wood Ingenuity began. A massive White Oak fell on the Boyle farm in Queen Anne’s County in 2014. Unable to find anyone who could remove and mill a tree that large, Jim Boyle and his carpenter son, David, ended up purchasing an industrial saw mill large enough to do the job themselves. Seeing an opportunity to convert fallen trees in the area into large slabs of wood ideal for custom tables, countertops and other projects, they launched Wood Ingenuity.

They were soon joined by David’s brother, Mark, and the company grew into a multi-faceted enterprise that sources and removes trees; mills and dries the lumber; and crafts custom pieces in its woodshop.

Wood Ingenuity also works with reclaimed wood from old buildings; an old ceiling beam can become a mantel over someone’s fireplace, for example. The company recently removed an historic elm tree from outside the Queen Anne’s County Courthouse; after growing for centuries, the tree had become diseased, but the wood can now be used inside the courthouse as flooring, paneling, tables or even gavels for judges, Hall said.

Now boasting eight employees, Wood Ingenuity also provides kitchen, bath and interior design services and offers roll-off dumpster rentals.

While an interior design firm and a dumpster company might not seem like a natural fit, providing dumpster service to customers grew out of the company’s own need to haul away fallen trees and unwanted trees, Hall said. And integrating the in-house design service with the woodworking itself allows Wood Ingenuity to work closely with customers from the beginning of a renovation project to its completion, he said.

“We can contribute to all aspects of the project,” Hall said. “That’s a very rewarding feeling, giving them something beautiful to put in their home.”

The imperfections found in salvaged wood are part of what inspires another Queen Anne’s County woodworker, Vicco von Voss, who says he prefers naturally curved wood to the straight boards that are usually sold commercially.

“Imperfections in wood are an opportunity for a design detail,” said von Voss, who uses locally sourced wood from tree removal services and strives to have as little impact on the environment as possible. Incorporating those unique elements and imperfections into each piece “honors the tree and its life before I got to it.”

Born in Germany and inspired by his grandfathers – one a forester and woodcarver, the other an architect – von Voss graduated from Washington College in 1991 and opened his studio a few years later. Today, he works with three employees and a pair of volunteers to produce custom furniture as well as design elements including staircases and handrail; each piece is designed in collaboration with the customers to ensure it will fit harmoniously into the existing space.

Von Voss is also a sculptor, and recently received a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council for the forthcoming “Woodhenge” installation at the Adkins Arboretum in Caroline County. Inspired by ancient henges, such as Stonehenge in England, the installation will feature six vertical slabs made from a lightning-struck tree and evoke themes of transformation and cycles of life.

The installation is part of an effort by von Voss to make his work accessible to a wider audience, since many of his custom-made pieces are in private residences. He is also preparing a line of mid-range tables and shelves that he hopes will reach a broader customer base.

For Misty and Max de Arriz, increasing demand propelled their woodworking hobby into a prospering home business in Kent County. The more they made furniture and cutting boards for themselves, the more their friends and family would ask them to make similar items.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Misty needed to stay home with their twin boys and the family needed to supplement its income. Their garage soon became the headquarters of Woodyskew, purveyors of rustic slab furniture, charcuterie and cutting boards, mancala game boards, and 3D topographical maps.

Those maps helped Woodyskew take off, Misty said. Using publicly available NASA topography data and a CNC (computer numerical controlled) cutting machine, Woodyskew has carved maps of the Smokey Mountains, the Grand Tetons, and the El Zotz archeological site in Guatemala, among others. Many customers have been couples looking for unique mementos of the places where they met or got engaged, she said.

The couple tries to use stormfall whenever possible and works with local mills to source their wood, Misty said.

The charcuterie and mancala boards are the biggest sellers, Max said. Those projects are also a chance for the couple to share their passion for woodworking with their twins, now six years old and learning the art of sanding and finishing wood from their parents.

While Woodyskew remains a side business for now, it has the potential to become a full-time job, said Max, an engineer by trade who contracts with local manufacturers.

“It’s one of those investments where you get out what you put into it,” he said.