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Log Gems
—Eric Hiss
 "I first got wind of it in a bar from
some brothers who looked like they were straight out of ZZ Top," says Arky
Ciancutti, a former emergency room physician who built the
Brewery Gulch Inn in
Mendocino, California.
Ciancutti is speaking of the legacy of the logging
boom in the Mendocino area, which corresponds with the Gold Rush in the
mid-19th century, when massive logs—some more than 16 feet in
diameter—were transported to waiting ships via the Big River in massive
flows set off by dynamiting temporary dams. "Sinkers" were logs that went
straight down instead of finding their way to the river mouth, and were rumored
to lie at the bottom like buried treasure for more than 100 years.
This "red gold" led Ciancutti and a partner to risk
life and limb searching the cold currents of Big River for two years with
nothing more than a rudimentary pontoon skiff and a 5-ton hand winch. The
operation netted Ciancutti close to 120,000 board feet of the extraordinary,
tight-grained wood, which had mineralized underwater to create exquisite
patinas of blond, burgundy and deep cinnamon. Now he offers some through his
company, Redwood Salvage Sales.
Designers and builders from as far away as Japan and
Australia have acquired one-of-a-kind pieces for projects ranging from guitars
to trophy homes, but perhaps the best showcase is Ciancutti's
Brewery Gulch Inn.
Located on an historic property that was Mendocino's first brewery, the 10-room
inn utilizes the salvaged wood throughout, including the lobby's cathedral
ceiling, paneled great room, beams, private decks and windows, which frame
ocean views from what can only be described as the world's most exquisite
treehouse. Prices vary from $6 to $20 per board foot.
  
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