Owner Sal Mastropolo in front of live edge slabs

By Janice Llanes Fabry

American Reclaimed Custom Furniture and Interior claimed their spot at the gateway of Rye’s downtown to get closer to their loyal customers. The family-owned business has been offering custom, hand-crafted furniture and raw materials for over 30 years, but this is their first venture into Westchester.

“Customers have been driving over the bridge to see us for years, because a lot of homes in Westchester fit the bill for our type of look, so I opened the store here on Purchase Street” said owner Sal Mastropolo III, whose showroom is in Upper Saddle, New Jersey. “I’m also doing my best to grow the company to honor my father.”

Sal Mastropolo Jr. founded the company in the early 1980s. The visionary had a hunch that taking down old barns and repurposing the wood could be a lucrative business. He started selling beams, barn wood, slabs, and firewood out of a barn in Warwick, New York, before establishing Authentic Antique Lumber in Goshen, New York, which still houses the workshop.

A few years later, serendipity stepped in when a Ralph Lauren employee spotted a flyer for the lumber company in New York City. Ever since, the Mastropolos have been responsible for the authentic, rustic look of the iconic Polo Ralph Lauren stores. Before long, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany, and The Ritz Hotel followed suit, along with an impressive array of restaurants and celebrities from Michael Jackson to Yoko Ono.

Sal grew up working alongside his father and became his full-fledged partner in 2013 when his mother, Donna Mastropolo, passed away. In 2018, the parent company was renamed American Reclaimed to better reflect the furniture-making and architectural business it had morphed into.

American Reclaimed specializes in all things wood, from hand-crafted interior accents like sliding barn wood doors or wide-plank flooring to full house transformations. A select team of designers, contractors, and master craftsmen transform raw wood into one-of-a-kind furniture and cabinetry for any room in the house.

It provides clients with both raw materials and furniture. All the wood, mostly oak and hemlock, is between 100 and 300 years old. As Sal noted, “Every piece of wood has a history, a story we share with clients.”

Sustainable live edge slabs with minimal processing can be utilized as table, bar, or counter tops. Hand-hewn beams of oak, maple, chestnut, pine, and hemlock are available in various sizes and shapes. Recycled barn wood can be used for flooring, furniture, walls, ceilings, doors, and more.

“A lot of our projects start off as fun doodles before becoming schematic drawings,” said Sal, who focuses on marketing, management, and design. “Personally, I like to watch an idea become reality. It’s very rewarding.”

What’s trendy in the reclaimed wood world? “Taking a rustic slab and incorporating it into a modern space. Wood tabletops with steel bases are very popular now,” explained Sal. “They combine the traditional with the modern, the best of both worlds, and everyone loves them.”

Although Sal Sr. did not live to see the Rye store, his son is confident his legacy will live on. “I decided to keep this showroom clean and simple. Our products speak for themselves,” he said. “I like connecting with customers and creating something they can’t find anywhere else. “

Visit American Reclaimed at 15-17 Purchase Street. For more information, call 303-5750 or log onto areclaimed.com. Rye store hours are Monday-Saturday 11-7 and Sunday 10-4.