frazer wood elements

Fraser Wood Elements

local pride plus reclaimed wood equals one iconic business by Tom Conway

"It's just a great little community," agrees product designer Everett Pitts. "There's been so much opportunity right here in town."

Of course, it helps when you have a reputation for doing great work. Fraser Wood Elements began in 2014 doing high-end custom work in reclaimed wood for local businesses and residences. The company's founder and owner, David Fraser, spent years as a reclaimed wood dealer in South Carolina and found that people were constantly asking him if he knew someone who could help put that wood to use, designing and creating custom interiors and furniture.

The building at 601 Jackson Street began life in 1889 when the Farmer's Creamery Corporation needed a foundry for making crates and containers to hold their dairy products. Over the ensuing years, it was home to a number of other well-known local businesses. In 1913, a local inventor designed specialized metal crates for shipping eggs to urban store owners and residents. His company, the Fredericksburg Metal Egg Crate Company, manufactured their product there for many years. Then, after several decades as an extension G&H textile plant on Hanover Street, it was the original site of the Roxbury Mills Nursery.

Today, the 8,000 square foot building is the main production facility for Fraser Wood Elements, a local business destined to be every bit as iconic as those others.

These days, it seems you can't dine out in Fredericksburg without running into David Fraser (above) and his crew. Fraser Wood Elements is everywhere. Rebellion FXBG, Farenheit 132, Benny Vitali' s (picture upper right), Castiglia ' s, 6 Bears and a Goat, Capital Ale House, and Mian Noodle all prominently feature the company's work.

"That's the great thing about this town," says Fraser. "All of the local businesses tend to look to each other. Have you been over to A. Smith Bowman? We did a lot of work there in the tasting area and gift shop - cabinets, tops of displays, all of that woodwork was us." "I always thought I could be that person, so once I got married and moved to Fredericksburg, it seemed like a no-brainer. I started looking for opportunities to do custom pieces, and it grew from there."

For several years, they worked out of a small garage downtown on Jail Alley, behind Fredericksburg's historic courthouse, turning out custom one-of-akind furnishings for local residents and businesses. Over time, they've begun turning those custom items into product lines, selling them from their storefront at 1023 Caroline Street. Each product is named for the client who first commissioned the piece: the Woodfield Dining Table, the Leonetti Console Table, the Anderson Bar Cart, and the Coleman River Table (picture bottom), which has become one of their most admired and requested pieces.

"That's the challenge now," says Fraser, "to sell more, to move to wholesale, to design for mass production and arrange to have products shipped. We're taking on interiors in Manassas, Woodbridge, and Leesburg. We're a local company, but there is only so much business to win here in Fredericksburg. We have to grow outside of the area to get bigger."

"But the roots are here," Pitts added. "As much as we want to grow beyond, we'll always be a part of this community.”

Tom Conway isTeaching at JM and working on getting an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design

Fraser Wood Elements Storefront at 1023 Caroline Street. Main Production Facility , 601 Jackson St fraserwoodelements.com facebook fraser wood elements