Salvage yard turns 'yesterday's beauties into beautiful tomorrows'

PETALUMA, Calif. -- When you visit Heritage Salvage in Petaluma, you will discover a 3-acre yard filled with stacks of reclaimed lumber, timber and slabs.

"You never stop collecting if you can help it," owner Michael "Bug" Deakin shares, "little stuff, big stuff and everything in between."

You can also find plenty of other architectural elements like hinges and doorknobs.

"The rusty bits are the things that people love to pick through," Deakin explains, "and then like its just use your imagination who knows what that rusty bit will be repurposed as next."

Deakin can assist his customers in bringing their repurposing ideas to life. Heritage Salvage offers a full service custom design and building facility.

"Walk through the showrooms and see how spectacular that beautiful, old piece a falling down, barn wood turns out when you give it some TLC," Deakin says.

For Deakin, every piece on his lot represents more than just a source of construction inspiration.

"I was interested in the salvage and the reusing and the repurposing, I really wanted the stories," Deakin reveals.

Deakin salvages materials from unique locations steeped in history: flooring from the original Levi Strauss building, bench boards from San Francisco's Summer of Love or even firewalls used to house decommissioned ICBMs.

"You end up with a piece of history to walk into your house that looks amazing," Deakin declares.

According to Deakin, his reclaimed materials have ended up in more than 200 restaurants and at least 10,000 homes. One of Deakin's greatest rewards is transforming something old into something new.

"We are all very proud of the fact that we are repurposing yesterday's beauties into beautiful tomorrows," Deakin declares with a smile, "It's just what I love to do."

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