Over ten years ago, Kurt Petrauskas stood at the edge of an abyss. Petrauskas, then a general contractor, regularly dumped the historical detritus of countless old Seattle buildings into landfills as a part of his job. Back in the late 1980s and 90s in Seattle, there seemed to be no end to the architectural remnants, beautiful doors and windows, and antique hardware that developers threw away. Petrauskas developed a protective hoarding instinct, and started collecting parts of old buildings. Enough, in fact, to build his own house, which is comprised entirely of recycled materials.

He then got an idea to start a business, based on selling the great things developers didn't want. The benefit to the community was manifold: less landfill waste, more local materials staying locally and being put to good use, and support for property owners looking to fix up their houses with historic materials. The idea was equal parts historic preservation, environmentalism, and good business. When he started Earthwise with partner Roy Hunter, there were no other businesses like it in the area. Sure, Seattle had its salvage yards, but no business existed with an environmental and historically sensitive mission. Hunter went on to found Second Use Building Materials, and further expanded local support for enlightened architectural salvage.

Years ago, when Petrauskas visited developing parts of the world, he latched onto the utilitarian concept of reusing old buildings and building parts. Oftentimes, such practical solutions yield beautiful results. Old doors become bridges, fix potholes, and provide roofs and walls. The bricks concrete, and stone of demolished buildings pave streets.

The idea fits well into the tenets of the environmental movement: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Though Petrauskas dislikes the fact that old buildings are being torn down, he believes that his and similar businesses provide a productive compromise between out-right demolition and restoration. The longer Earthwise, Second Use, and newcomer Re-Store operate, the more developers may call upon them to acquire for reuse the houses they were planning to demolish anyway.

A Few Bad Apples…

Like all used-product businesses, the market for vintage building materials also creates an opportunity for would-be thieves. Although this fact should not deter anyone from patronizing architectural salvage businesses, especially the ones mentioned in this article, the point bears mentioning. I cite the following story because of the ending.

Mark Houston, at Second Use, is in the process of moving a historic house in Ballard. The move, which will save the old house from demolition, has been a long process. The house stood boarded up for a while, and attracted the attention of building thieves, who broke in and pried away the historic doorframes and other architectural elements that significantly contributed to the character of the house. Houston was devastated.

Luckily, a neighbor had been paying attention and provided descriptions of the thieves to police. Because the market for such materials is small, the building parts were soon recovered. The thieves attempted to sell them to Earthwise soon after the theft, and Petraukas was informed and vigilant. Luckily, the thieves were also caught, and fined, AND jailed, much to the relief of all people participating in Houston's house moving project, members of the architectural salvage community, and all others in Houston's email circle, including myself.

The Local Community

The quantity and quality of building materials produced by the demolition of old buildings in Seattle makes architectural salvage businesses not so much competitive as complementary. According to Petrauskas, the various businesses are quite friendly, and frequently refer customers to each other. Earthwise concentrates on "vintage building materials" and sometime preserves entire rooms of carpentry, staircases, and other large building elements. The Earthwise warehouse building is smaller than Second Use's facilities. Because of its size, Second Use has a wider variety of materials, not just historic ones.

Both businesses maintain core values. Both promote preservation's role in socially and environmentally conscious building practices. Both Kurt Petrauskas and Mark Houston practice what they preach at home. And both are extremely personable and good storytellers. Each recycled building part comes with its own, sometimes sad, sometimes very interesting story.

Earthwise at 2462 1st Avenue South
(206-624-4510)
Second Use at 7953 2nd Avenue South
(206-763-6929)
Re-store at 1440 Northwest 52nd Street
(206-297-9119)

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