When Jake Herring sees an old barn, he sees something much greater–an opportunity to repurpose the wood to better serve a family or business while reducing waste.
Herring, an avid rock climber who loves to travel, attended Michigan State, where he received a degree in construction management. This led him to work in the commercial sector in Las Vegas. But it was not a good fit for a hands-on person like Herring.“It just wasn’t for me,” he says. “It was a lot of sitting on the computer all day.” In addition, Herring became disheartened by the immense amount of waste being produced on job sites each day. “Outside of my work trailer were all of the dumpsters lined up with trucks coming and going, nonstop, hauling them off.”
Inspired to rethink how materials are used, Herring and his brother, Luke, started naturalDESIGN, a business constructing smaller additions to homes and remodels. However, as the housing market declined in 2008, they saw a need to shift gears. That’s when they started taking down barns and reclaiming the wood for other projects. “I feel like it’s important. I think it just makes sense—preserving our resources,” says Herring.
Over the years, Herring has used reclaimed wood to build furniture, feature walls for restaurants, and remodels. You may have unknowingly sat at a table or eaten in a restaurant he helped construct, including Two Ten Jack, Red Pony, and 55 South. Recently, he built additional shelving for Gray’s on Main and renovated the space that now houses the David Arms Gallery in Leiper’s Fork.
Having bought out his brother, Herring and his team of three at naturalDESIGN now focus primarily on new construction and extensive remodels. Continuing to reclaim resources, Herring says, “The lumber we use is a lot higher grade and denser wood than the new growth lumber. It’s nice to see it live on instead of getting pushed into a trash pile.”
There is evidence of Herring’s passion and handiwork throughout his Thompson’s Station home. Much of the house is made from reclaimed materials or resources harvested locally. The hardwood flooring is all made from scraps of barn wood, and the timber framing is from oak harvested in Leiper’s Fork. However, a unique part of the home’s design is not the materials themselves but the harnessing of passive solar for sustainability and lessening the environmental impact.
“Passive solar drastically reduces energy consumption,” explains Herring. Intentionally positioning a house to face south and creating an exterior overhang above a wall of windows allows the sunlight to come well into the home in the winter but limits how much enters in the summer. Herring notes this design works best on acreage where the site can be adjusted, whereas subdivisions make this a challenge due to regulations and positioning of lots.
For Herring, designing a home or space is more than just about his love for building or his passion for designing with sustainability in mind. “I love to think about the occupants and the movement throughout the space,” he says. Herring is passionate about creating spaces for the occupants or end users that focus on what he calls “Function over form–putting the heart back into things. We are blurring the lines between contractors and craftsmen.” MyNaturalDesign.com