JOANNE BOECKMAN
Woodharbor has its roots in Mason City, where brothers Curtis, Dennis and Jon Lewerke founded Fieldstone Cabinetry in 1978.
They sold that company — which is still around — to Masco Corp. in 1985 and continued to work with the company until 1993. They left and started Woodharbor to manufacture all-wood, custom interior doors.
When an agreement with Masco expired in 1996, the brothers added custom cabinets to their product line. They market it as a “whole-home concept,” meaning they sell cabinets and doors as well as fireplace mantels, moldings and casings to coordinate throughout the house.
The company has two 180,000-square-foot cabinet manufacturing facilities in Mason City and Northwood. The corporate-owned store opened in Urbandale three years ago.
Robert Jacobs, 35, Woodharbor showroom manager and regional sales representative, answered most of our questions. Rhonda Saxton-Williams, one of three designers with Woodharbor in Urbandale, also added input.
Q. How many types of woods does Woodharbor offer for doors and cabinets?
A. We have about 10 to 12 standard wood species. If someone requests a wood we don’t usually have in our catalog, we can do it.
Q. Can you do that for kitchen cabinets, too?
A. Not so much for kitchen cabinets. There are a lot of components that go into a cabinet — veneers and all that sort of thing — that we’re not able to get in all species.
Q. What are most popular woods for cabinets today?
A. Maple and cherry seem to be the hottest. Red oak has historically been very popular, but as people are doing new homes and renovating their homes the red oak market got pretty saturated. You’ll see a lot of painted cabinets, too, and that’s kind of a throwback to an older time.
Saxton-Williams: We’ve got a lot of knotty alder being done for people looking for a cottage look. We offer it as distressed look with knots in it. Then you go into the transitional look — it’s a little more urban, trendy, youthful, bistro — that whole concept of being very modern.
Q. What trends are you seeing?
A. Mixing of woods and finishes that complement each other. Within a kitchen you may see stained wood mixed with paint, maybe accent pieces on an island or within the kitchen cabinets themselves.
Q. How many finishes do you have?
A. Numerous standard finishes and designer finishes – which are glazes and rub-throughs, and antique-type distressed finishes. We can do any custom finish as well. We really have no limitations.
Q. What services do your designers offer?
A. On new construction, they might work off blueprints. On remodels, they come out to the home, take measurements and make suggestions. They’re qualified remodelers. They can make suggestions about taking out walls and moving walls and that sort of thing. That’s all free and there’s no obligation to buy.
Saxton-Williams : We prefer to sell our Woodharbor products first, but we have access to all types of things. We sell some appliances and sinks. We can get pillars and that type of thing to go with the kitchen.
Q. Who is your typical customer?
A. Typically, they’re homeowners. A lot of people think a specialty shop like this, versus a large home center, will be too expensive. But we have three product lines from custom to semi-custom, in three different price points, so we do have cabinets to suit all budgets. We’re not going to be the cheapest out there, but we’re going to have high quality standards and the best service.
Q. What are the most common rooms you do?
A. Kitchens and bathrooms are definitely the most popular. We’re doing more and more entertainment centers and furniture-type pieces.
Q. What’s the price of a finished door?
A. It can be from $250 to $2,000. On commodity-wood species like an oak, you’re looking at the $250 to $350 range.
