Defunct 150-year-old millwork company undergoes revival
Photo By White Bros./Revival Millworks
The White Brothers Mill in Oakland, California, originally began operation in 1868 as Straut-White Co. in San Francisco. Four years later, in 1872, company partner Peter White's brother Asa White joined the Straut-White Company. Together they bought out Straut and renamed the company White Brothers. Jacob White, a third brother joined the company and helped drive the company.
The company continued to grow, and in 1906 it was spared the devastation that most other businesses endured from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. According to a Wiki page on the company, the White Brothers was spared, leaving it the "only company in San Francisco with a supply of hardwood lumber. In the spirit of helping to rebuild the city, White Brothers did not take advantage of the disaster by raising its prices."
Jacob White's son Charles Henry White managed the White Bros. from 1920 to 1948, and in 1948 the company moved to Oakland, California, where it remained until 2024 when it closed and its equipment and inventory was sold off. At the time, the White Brothers’ mill boasted the “largest supply of mouldings in the San Francisco Bay Area,” specializing in fine hardwood lumber and millwork.
For most businesses, that would be the end of it.
But, the White Bros. legacy was not over. It lives on in Revival Millworks, a Livermore, California, millwork facility.
"Revival Millworks is proud to offer the full line of the White Brothers Moulding Collection," the company said. "While White Brothers Mill has closed it's operation, Revival Millworks now owns all of their moulding profile knives. We are honored to carry forward the exceptional custom and reproduction mouldings that have been a hallmark of quality in the San Francisco Bay Area for over a century."
The White Bros. portfolio available from Revival includes:
Section 1 The Classic Moulding Catalog
Section 2 San Francisco Mouldings
These and other White Bros. moulding patterns are part of the company's inventory of more than 3,000 moulding pattern knives.
"At our modern manufacturing facility, we produce top-quality products with unmatched precision and efficiency," the company said. " ... the capability to create or replicate any pattern, we are dedicated to fulfilling your needs with the same level of dedication and craftsmanship that White Brothers Mill was known for."