The floor, pictured as a work-in-progress in the form of an elm tree, from the historic White Horse Tavern (America’s oldest tavern, Newport, Rhode Island). Image courtesy of John Yarema.
Over the winter, we had the extraordinary pleasure of having John Yarema visit our office. We were all astounded after viewing his work, craftsmanship of which we had never seen before. John is a true artisan; he is authentic, passionate, and creative. There is little doubt that the floors John makes are works of art which will live on for generations and generations.
The finished floor at the White Horse Tavern. Image courtesy of John Yarema.
As a former systems engineer with a Computer Science degree, John found his calling after he and his wife bought a one-room schoolhouse built in the 1850’s. John says that the house should have been condemned; the chimney was crumbling, the snow didn’t stay outside the front door, and there was a family of both bats and raccoons living in the attic.
Little by little, John began rehabbing the house. Some nights, he would stay up until the sun rose to finish a project. Both John and his wife, Lisa, loved the history of the house; and when it came time to redo the floors, he knew the floors had to remain authentic in nature as they were a “chapter from the past”. He started with an oak tree from his parents’ property which made up the planks. Those planks were processed and secured with walnut pegs. The way John felt when the flooring was finished was indescribable, and he instantly knew what he wanted to do when he “grew up”.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with his pet falcon, standing on the floor Yarema refinished, in the living room of the Kennedy Green House. Image courtesy of Detroit Home Magazine.
John does not come from a family of woodworkers, and he doesn’t have any carpentry experience. What he does have is a passion unrivaled, and a sense of pride he was able to fulfill only when he realized his love for flooring.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr wrote the foreword in John’s book, “Yarema”, which helps explain John’s passion from an outsider’s perspective. When water damaged the Kennedy family home in Mount Kisco, New York after a record rainfall in 2003, the only one able to salvage the old wood flooring was John. Due to the floor’s age and warping, none of the other installers were even willing to give it a try.
Kennedy said, “John salvaged 600 feet of flooring from our dismantled home and discarded flooring from three other houses in Washington, D.C., already set to be demolished. John used his resourcefulness, energy, and intelligence to achieve our dream of a beautiful home completely built with reclaimed materials. In every instance, he exceeded our wildest dreams.”
Image courtesy of John Yarema.
John is dedicated to sustainability and to only using environmentally-friendly materials. He is adamant about reusing wood, reclaiming materials, and providing only “green finishes”. John takes the idea one step further and mixes all his own solvents and oils in an effort to reduce toxicity to minimal levels.
Packard Ultramatic. Image courtesy of John Yarema.
The flooring master is passionate about preserving the environment and started the Yarema Forest Foundation, dedicated to reforesting areas such as the South American rainforests stripped of their trees for lumber and fuel.
The world of design and architecture can surely raise a glass to John Yarema, for venturing away from his secure job as a systems engineer… what a treat for purveyors everywhere!