Whether you call it Shou Sugi Ban or Yakisugo, fire-treated wood is making an appearance in rustic structures and furniture throughout the country.
Shou Sugi Ban seems to be turning up everywhere lately. Ever since I wrote about a table that appears on the cover of Rustic Modern, in the lakeside home of Montana Architect Larry Pearson, I’ve been noticing it — most recently in a Chairish blog just yesterday.
According to William Beleck, who dug into the research on behalf of Nakamoto Forestry, the practice has been mistakenly called Shou Sugi Ban in Europe and the U.S. — rather than the more correct Yakisugo — due to a linguistic fine point, the mistake resulting from differences between the Chinese and Japanese languages. Yet even Japanese firms are still promoting the wood as Shou Sugi Ban, so the jury seems to be out.
Whatever the correct term, it’s a method of wood preservation whose byproduct is beauty and serenity, as seen in many an ancient Japanese temple. In a recent story I did for Big Sky Journal, I loved everything about the home and guest house on the banks of the Wood River in Idaho. But I especially loved the builder's backstory:
"Years ago, Idaho-based builder Mat Hall read about the ancient Japanese wood-preserving technique called Shou Sugi Ban. The treatment involves charring wood to promote resistance to fire, degradation, and pests, and it results in a beautiful dark tone with unusual texture and depth. At the time, he was intrigued enough to post a photo on Facebook with the caption: “Any takers?” It never occurred to him that years later, he would be asked to construct an entire home and guesthouse using the process."
For this project, Hall created his own fire-charring setup on site, flaming wood by hand in all weathers and temperatures. After building the guest house, though, he decided there had to be a better way. For the main house he sourced the exterior wood from a well regarded purveyor specializing in the technique.
The architecture is by Janet Jarvis of The Jarvis Group, the interiors by the late Toni Breck, a talented designer who was a close friend and neighbor of the homeowners. Photography by Heidi Long. Nomenclature to be determined!
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