YOUR GUARANTEE OF QUALITY
prov·e·nance noun \ˈpräv-nən(t)s, ˈprä-və-ˌnän(t)s\:
the origin or source of something : the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art
the origin or source of something : the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art
Ancient by definition, cured with care and marked with personality like no other, some of our slab collections come from weathered logs over 1000 years old. The sheer weight of their history means these one-piece slabs are exclusive, designer label Nullarbor Forest icons, each boasting a primordial Australian pedigree impossible to find elsewhere. Project-ready and sourced from a place deep in the past, your slab is both an investment in the past and an heirloom for the future.
For your piece of mind, every slab purchased from us comes with a serial code, iron-stamped discreetly on your selected piece to indicate the year of salvage and the collection from which it came. This code guarantees its distinct quality and the 'one-off' exclusivity of your piece. Your slab will come with an Statement of Provenance, outlining the history of the piece and its remarkable place in Australia's rugged history.
Your decision to invest in one of our seasoned timber slabs puts you ahead of the pack as you know it has the stamp of approval from the one man in the world, Mr Barry Donchi, who knows all there is to know about reclaimed timber, its history and its best end use in your future.
Unlike many other infant timber suppliers, Ancient Timber Slabs, as a boutique division of Nullarbor Forest Timbers offer you the advantage of purchasing a product that has been seasoned by time, not machinery. Our slabs are ripened in their most natural state with 10% or less moisture content. You will not find a bigger collection of slabs on the planet with each piece individually cured to suit its best end use. Our stockpile includes redgum timber slabs & burls sourced from Victoria, southern NSW, northern Queensland (maple) and rare French oak from Europe among many others.
At the rear of our sprawling timber yard in Moama, NSW, a vast, hidden stockyard exists in which these hidden treasures lie. A self-confessed Bower Bird, Barry collected a veritable landfill of dried logs over the past few decades, numbering into the thousands. He has conceded it's time. Time to unlock the padlock on the high gates of this stockyard and share these hand selected hardwood timber slabs with the public.
Years of seasoning and the milling process means these slabs - some dating into hundreds of years in provenance - are ripe for your selection and use in modern commercial or home building projects. Be nice to Baz and he may well let you have one of his favourites.
- Each Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor slab or burl comes with a Statement of Provenance sent electronically.
- Each SoP is signed by the pioneer of Australia's reclaimed timber industry, Mr. G.B. Donchi and comes from the very same site of his son's thriving reclaimed timber plant, Nullarbor Sustainable Timbers.
- Each salvaged slab from these collections come with a guarantee of their historical rarity and our personal care in storage, manufacturing and delivery.
- You will simply find no better guarantee of quality in the world.
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RICH HISTORICAL ORIGINS
Post-colonial Australia has many stories to tell. Many of which would go untold were it not for the likes of Nullarbor Forest Timbers, a company whose curiosity for Australian heritage and passion for conservation has led us to demolition sites where for over 35 years, we've salvaged timber from old wharves, train stations, bridges and wool sheds. Nullarbor, which now operates as both a commercial, structural supplier Nullarbor Sustainable Timbers (run by Brendan and Mandy Donchi), alongside Ancient Timber Slabs (run by Barry and Jacqueline Donchi) has amassed an incomparable collection of timbers seasoned by time and rescued from the burning pile. Our massive logs come from all over Australia, connecting the final owner of a A.S.T. slab from our collections, with a richly inhabited piece of history.
Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor are made available to the public one collection at a time. Each have their own tale to tell and unique place of origin.
Nullarbor Timbers as an umbrella entity have been specializing in reclaimed timber for over 35 years, amassing the largest stock pile of one piece Red Gum Slabs in Australia from the perfectly flawless to the exotically featured , for a bathroom vanity top to a massive boardroom table, timbers like these have the ability to inspire a new appreciation for the beauty of nature.
With a huge range of different species available , we find many of the red gum slabs have been milled from ringbarked trees during Australia's colonialisation. The benefits of such rare timbers provide unique colours and characteristics such as size which just can't be reproduced from today's plantation timbers.
Reclaimed timber is not only environmentally friendly. Such logs have stood the test of time through harsh weather conditions and possess incredulous durability and strength in their incarnation as one piece slabs. Read more about our environmental policy at the page end.
AUSTRALIAN RIVER REDGUM HARDWOOD
“Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor is based in the heartland of the best Redgum district in the world. We’re very proud to introduce our River Redgum slabs to the local and international market. The Australian Red Gum Tree is naturally resistant to termites and was used extensively by Early European Settlers. It is common to find trees well over 100 years old growing along the waterways of Victoria, primarily the Ovens, Goulburn and Murray rivers. Australian Red Gum Hardwood Timber. While it has a widespread distribution along many of the river systems in Australia, it ranges from the eastern states, through eastern South Australia and into south-western Western Australia. It is, however, distinct to the Murray River region in Echuca/Moama - home to our massive log stockpile and processing mill. The timber is extremely durable, no two pieces are identical and River Redgum possesses a magnificent range of variable grain patterns. Once dried correctly, the timber itself is extremely stable and doesn’t move, expand or contract. A full range of widths and lengths are available for bar, bench, serveries, table tops and particularly boardroom table tops. Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor contain unique natural features, such as bug holes, gum veins and surface cracks which add to each slab’s rustic charm and personality. Many of our slabs feature the rare and highly sought after fiddleback grain and bird’s eye. Rich hues range from amber orange, brown to dark red but the main impact of these one piece slabs is their impressive weight and natural character - straight from the Australian bush or open farming fields where they have rested for over 500 years in some cases, waiting to find their home in a modern space.”
Barry Donchi, Managing Director, ATS by Nullarbor.
Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor are made available to the public one collection at a time. Each have their own tale to tell and unique place of origin.
Nullarbor Timbers as an umbrella entity have been specializing in reclaimed timber for over 35 years, amassing the largest stock pile of one piece Red Gum Slabs in Australia from the perfectly flawless to the exotically featured , for a bathroom vanity top to a massive boardroom table, timbers like these have the ability to inspire a new appreciation for the beauty of nature.
With a huge range of different species available , we find many of the red gum slabs have been milled from ringbarked trees during Australia's colonialisation. The benefits of such rare timbers provide unique colours and characteristics such as size which just can't be reproduced from today's plantation timbers.
Reclaimed timber is not only environmentally friendly. Such logs have stood the test of time through harsh weather conditions and possess incredulous durability and strength in their incarnation as one piece slabs. Read more about our environmental policy at the page end.
AUSTRALIAN RIVER REDGUM HARDWOOD
“Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor is based in the heartland of the best Redgum district in the world. We’re very proud to introduce our River Redgum slabs to the local and international market. The Australian Red Gum Tree is naturally resistant to termites and was used extensively by Early European Settlers. It is common to find trees well over 100 years old growing along the waterways of Victoria, primarily the Ovens, Goulburn and Murray rivers. Australian Red Gum Hardwood Timber. While it has a widespread distribution along many of the river systems in Australia, it ranges from the eastern states, through eastern South Australia and into south-western Western Australia. It is, however, distinct to the Murray River region in Echuca/Moama - home to our massive log stockpile and processing mill. The timber is extremely durable, no two pieces are identical and River Redgum possesses a magnificent range of variable grain patterns. Once dried correctly, the timber itself is extremely stable and doesn’t move, expand or contract. A full range of widths and lengths are available for bar, bench, serveries, table tops and particularly boardroom table tops. Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor contain unique natural features, such as bug holes, gum veins and surface cracks which add to each slab’s rustic charm and personality. Many of our slabs feature the rare and highly sought after fiddleback grain and bird’s eye. Rich hues range from amber orange, brown to dark red but the main impact of these one piece slabs is their impressive weight and natural character - straight from the Australian bush or open farming fields where they have rested for over 500 years in some cases, waiting to find their home in a modern space.”
Barry Donchi, Managing Director, ATS by Nullarbor.
A FAMILY OPERATION
Barry Donchi and his daughter, Jacqueline have collaborated on this project to bring you online sales for Ancient Timber Slabs by Nullarbor - the world's largest collection of seasoned timber slabs.
Alongside the thriving timber supply operation, Nullarbor Sustainable Timbers, run by Brendan Donchi, this new boutique division continues a family story that began long ago.
Barry Donchi's great, great grandfather, Battista came as a 15 year old to Australia's Chiltern region in 1865 from Teglio, Italy. Broadaxe in hand, he made his way to the prodigious Gippsland forests to cleave giant Ironbark, Mahogany and Stringy Bark trees.
The tradition followed through generations as Barry in his infant years, trailed behind his father, Geoffrey in the bush lands of Gippsland, learning of the species and history of this rich natural resource.
This father and son team's disdain for waste developed into his desire of putting an end to the deforestation and finding ways to reclaim already milled timbers from structures all over the country.
Naturally, Jacqueline grew up around the Nullarbor Forest timber yard and the many incarnations of timber structures and furniture in the various family properties her parents designed and built.
Her interest in timber extends beyond its ever-changing status within the marketplace and further afield into its historical provenance and place in the far-reaching future.
"There was a time when I probably didn't appreciate the quality of the timber architectural features I grew up with. Living in man-made, duplicated environments as a young adult meant that when I started to come home from my city visits back into the timber interiors and exteriors of my family's homes and businesses, I had a reaction that led to a brand new love story with natural lifestyle products."
"There's nothing like being ensconced in a room that emanates the sort of stylish and natural warmth that reclaimed timbers provide. You're immediately connected with the magnitude and majesty of the environment and are witness to the human hand that has assisted in its alchemy from the wild to the domesticated or architectural."
She's delighted to be assisting her father and brother in taking the business into broader, even international marketplaces in the future.
"The day I was born, my mother was planting a seedling in the front garden when I decided it was time to arrive. Dad rushed his pregnant wife to hospital and the tree in the front yard of Hopwood Street was long forgotten. Thirty years later, it had grown into a magnificent, picturesque gum with the typically exaggerated features of Australian natives. We had long left for a house on the other side of town and the tree was well and truly consigned to history. When it had grown so tall it had started to tickle the power lines and create a potential hazard, it was cut down by local council. A call was made to the local timber man to see if he wanted it for fire wood or floor boards. Given its significance, he decided to save it. Dad later used it to build a king sized bed and offered it as an heirloom gift. The foot of the bed and the bedhead are one-piece slabs possessive of unique markings that are the same age as me. We grew up together. I look at the markings every morning when making the bed. The sketch lines have a timely character and seem to hold the story of my own life's capricious wayfare."
"Your ancestry doesn't particularly come into focus until you're a parent yourself. The thought of my son being linked to his heritage with a product that existed long before we were born and tendered so carefully by other family members in honour of our ancestors is something I hadn't considered until Dad took me around the swampy moors where his collection of slabs lay."
"During a tour of the timber yard, I started to see beyond the grey, weather-beaten exteriors of the various stockpiles. Shave the exterior and you witness a literal metamorphosis of a grey timber shell being sliced away to reveal richly hued, moistened timbers that are not only unharmed by time but enhanced by it. When Dad stopped during our roam around of the yard and briefly pointed out a few pieces that had been iron-stamped by his ancestors with their initials, the penny suddenly dropped. The entire story; the fact that our immigrant forefathers had laboured hard to cut these timbers down in order to provide for their families came into focus as a direct link to the bigger story of how somewhere along the way, a few men with the same bloodline decided to start rescuing the timbers from the burning pile to preserve them, store and offer them back to Australians as newly machined items. Dad still has the original broad axes his forefathers used. Its rare for any industry to have such direct links to its past in both the family name and the one product that separate generations have laboured over for different outcomes. There is a delicate craft involved in salvaging timbers and milling them into products for modern use. Brendan has taken the family baton and re-learned these skills. He's taken the business into new, modern territory and carved its place within new design industries. As a boutique division of the Nullarbor Forest Timbers company, Ancient Timber Slabs hones in on one sector of this massive collection of rescued timbers. These ancient logs and the collections of superb one-piece timber slabs from which they are derived, deserve their own stage and I hope to see them into new, appreciative resting places both here and internationally."
Nullarbor Forest Timber Industries has been in operation for over 35 years and with Brendan and Jacqueline's company divisions and joint loyalty to sustainable outcomes, will continue far in to the future.
Alongside the thriving timber supply operation, Nullarbor Sustainable Timbers, run by Brendan Donchi, this new boutique division continues a family story that began long ago.
Barry Donchi's great, great grandfather, Battista came as a 15 year old to Australia's Chiltern region in 1865 from Teglio, Italy. Broadaxe in hand, he made his way to the prodigious Gippsland forests to cleave giant Ironbark, Mahogany and Stringy Bark trees.
The tradition followed through generations as Barry in his infant years, trailed behind his father, Geoffrey in the bush lands of Gippsland, learning of the species and history of this rich natural resource.
This father and son team's disdain for waste developed into his desire of putting an end to the deforestation and finding ways to reclaim already milled timbers from structures all over the country.
Naturally, Jacqueline grew up around the Nullarbor Forest timber yard and the many incarnations of timber structures and furniture in the various family properties her parents designed and built.
Her interest in timber extends beyond its ever-changing status within the marketplace and further afield into its historical provenance and place in the far-reaching future.
"There was a time when I probably didn't appreciate the quality of the timber architectural features I grew up with. Living in man-made, duplicated environments as a young adult meant that when I started to come home from my city visits back into the timber interiors and exteriors of my family's homes and businesses, I had a reaction that led to a brand new love story with natural lifestyle products."
"There's nothing like being ensconced in a room that emanates the sort of stylish and natural warmth that reclaimed timbers provide. You're immediately connected with the magnitude and majesty of the environment and are witness to the human hand that has assisted in its alchemy from the wild to the domesticated or architectural."
She's delighted to be assisting her father and brother in taking the business into broader, even international marketplaces in the future.
"The day I was born, my mother was planting a seedling in the front garden when I decided it was time to arrive. Dad rushed his pregnant wife to hospital and the tree in the front yard of Hopwood Street was long forgotten. Thirty years later, it had grown into a magnificent, picturesque gum with the typically exaggerated features of Australian natives. We had long left for a house on the other side of town and the tree was well and truly consigned to history. When it had grown so tall it had started to tickle the power lines and create a potential hazard, it was cut down by local council. A call was made to the local timber man to see if he wanted it for fire wood or floor boards. Given its significance, he decided to save it. Dad later used it to build a king sized bed and offered it as an heirloom gift. The foot of the bed and the bedhead are one-piece slabs possessive of unique markings that are the same age as me. We grew up together. I look at the markings every morning when making the bed. The sketch lines have a timely character and seem to hold the story of my own life's capricious wayfare."
"Your ancestry doesn't particularly come into focus until you're a parent yourself. The thought of my son being linked to his heritage with a product that existed long before we were born and tendered so carefully by other family members in honour of our ancestors is something I hadn't considered until Dad took me around the swampy moors where his collection of slabs lay."
"During a tour of the timber yard, I started to see beyond the grey, weather-beaten exteriors of the various stockpiles. Shave the exterior and you witness a literal metamorphosis of a grey timber shell being sliced away to reveal richly hued, moistened timbers that are not only unharmed by time but enhanced by it. When Dad stopped during our roam around of the yard and briefly pointed out a few pieces that had been iron-stamped by his ancestors with their initials, the penny suddenly dropped. The entire story; the fact that our immigrant forefathers had laboured hard to cut these timbers down in order to provide for their families came into focus as a direct link to the bigger story of how somewhere along the way, a few men with the same bloodline decided to start rescuing the timbers from the burning pile to preserve them, store and offer them back to Australians as newly machined items. Dad still has the original broad axes his forefathers used. Its rare for any industry to have such direct links to its past in both the family name and the one product that separate generations have laboured over for different outcomes. There is a delicate craft involved in salvaging timbers and milling them into products for modern use. Brendan has taken the family baton and re-learned these skills. He's taken the business into new, modern territory and carved its place within new design industries. As a boutique division of the Nullarbor Forest Timbers company, Ancient Timber Slabs hones in on one sector of this massive collection of rescued timbers. These ancient logs and the collections of superb one-piece timber slabs from which they are derived, deserve their own stage and I hope to see them into new, appreciative resting places both here and internationally."
Nullarbor Forest Timber Industries has been in operation for over 35 years and with Brendan and Jacqueline's company divisions and joint loyalty to sustainable outcomes, will continue far in to the future.
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A WORD ON RECLAIMED TIMBER
Major advantages of using recycled timbers are the positive environmental effects, including conservation of old growth forests, increased carbon storage and lower greenhouse gas emissions. These recycled timber products can then be re-used to create unique effects in hardwood flooring, decking, beams, joists, trusses, posts, bollards, (slab) benchtops, furniture & cladding. Numerous (Australian) Government reports have extolled the virtues of the use of timber over other building materials as a more environment friendly choice. Recycled timbers have the added advantage that when a timber is recycled (and thus does not get sent to landfill or naturally decay) the timber continues to be a vital store of carbon (40-50% of timber's gross weight is carbon) as its useful life is extended beyond the purpose for which it was originally intended.
Old growth forests, particularly in Asia, are shrinking at an alarming rate, and thus good quality timbers sourced from old trees are becoming more and more scarce. Then there is the scourge of palm oil plantations and the destruction of natural rainforests across much of Asia. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and even Indonesia are now more aware of `Green' building codes and using environmentally sustainable building products in new commercial and residential developments and are implementing policies and codes to reflect this. Using recycled timbers in large scale developments can greatly assist a building or project's green rating and (by implication) the likelihood of the project being approved by the applicable government authorities.
Using reclaimed timbers is also far more energy efficient as there is no requirement to extract, transport, dry the timber and in some cases the timber need not be re-milled. At Nullarbor Timber Slabs, we endeavour to minimise wastage. {SOURCED FROM GOVERNMENT REPORT}
Old growth forests, particularly in Asia, are shrinking at an alarming rate, and thus good quality timbers sourced from old trees are becoming more and more scarce. Then there is the scourge of palm oil plantations and the destruction of natural rainforests across much of Asia. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and even Indonesia are now more aware of `Green' building codes and using environmentally sustainable building products in new commercial and residential developments and are implementing policies and codes to reflect this. Using recycled timbers in large scale developments can greatly assist a building or project's green rating and (by implication) the likelihood of the project being approved by the applicable government authorities.
Using reclaimed timbers is also far more energy efficient as there is no requirement to extract, transport, dry the timber and in some cases the timber need not be re-milled. At Nullarbor Timber Slabs, we endeavour to minimise wastage. {SOURCED FROM GOVERNMENT REPORT}
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