Guests who admire the wood-topped island in Denise and Marty Guy’s kitchen in Lafayette, Ind., are bowled over when they learn its provenance: That stunning maple counter top was once a lane in a bowling alley and it still bears the foul-line mark as evidence of its former life.
“It looks amazing,” says Denise. “Old things speak to me. They’re not mass-produced. They have a story.”
Meanwhile, at Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint in Roanoke, Va., customers buzz about the eye-catching beverage dispenser backdrop — the front of a 1948 Ford school bus, set into the wall and outfitted with taps. These projects reveal the crazy genius of the folks at Black Dog Salvage. When it comes to turning trash into treasure, they’re at the top of the heap.
Maybe you’ve seen co-owners Mike Whiteside and Robert Kulp on the DIY Network’s popular reality TV show Salvage Dawgs. Or perhaps you’ve visited Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke, a 44,000-square-foot mecca of architectural salvage with a marketplace of cleverly re-purposed pieces created by local and regional artisans.
The detritus of demolition awaiting transformation at Black Dog ranges from marble mantels to mannequins, chandeliers to church pews. An estimated 180 tons of salvage annually is saved from landfills by Black Dog Salvage, culled from 26 projects per year, according to Christa Stephens, the company’s branding and promotions director.
For sure, salvaging is not new.
“It’s always been part of our culture to add value to items that would otherwise be discarded,” Kulp says. But it has become a “thing” now, thanks to social media and do-it-yourself TV shows like Salvage Dawgs.
Since Black Dog Salvage’s opening in 1999, “upcycling” has become a buzzword, as more people find joy in giving new life to old things. A walk through the property with Whiteside offers inspiration aplenty. “Those 1960s U.S. mailbags? I’m thinking pillows,” he says. Turning a corner, he spies a window sash. “Now, that would make a dandy coffee table,” he says.
In addition to running the business — which has grown from eight employees to 30 — and filming the TV show (now in its sixth season), the Dawgs build custom pieces from salvage. But they stress that extensive construction skills aren’t necessary to create an upcycled gem.
“It requires lots of imagination,” Whiteside says. “I’ve never run across anything I couldn’t figure out how to reuse for another purpose.”
Black Dog Salvage has rescued materials from churches, hotels, cotton and grist mills, a 40-foot Eiffel tower replica in Columbus, Ohio, a movie theater and an entire block of Victorian houses in Norfolk, Va. Each is like an archaeological dig, uncovering a piece of America’s past. Cool finds include an 11-foot-wide stained glass panel and Kulp’s most unique salvaged item — a gorgeous fireplace surround made of majolica, a glazed earthenware.
Black Dog Salvage has become one of Roanoke’s major attractions. Fans come from far and wide to see the place and to take selfies with Whiteside, Kulp and the actual black dog, Sally. The company ships anything, anywhere, so if someone falls in love with, say, a vintage barn door, geography need not get in the way.
“Every piece has a story,” Whiteside says. “All of these pieces were built by our ancestors. Their lives create the story. From the craftsman who built it, to the people who lived with it, their stories carry on in these pieces. We are creating the heirlooms of the future."
