Wabash Lumber Co. is owned and operated by myself, Aaron, and my wife, Brianne Hübner. We are both veterans of the U.S. Navy, in fact we met aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After a few months of dating, we eloped to Las Vegas and said "I do." We welcomed our son, Henry, into the world on August 1, 2012.
My love for all things vintage began as a child. Over the years my parents bought, fixed-up, and sold many historical homes. As early as I can remember, I was helping my mom and dad restore these run down homes and give them new life. I learned many skills that our still of service to me now.
After I graduated high school, I decided I needed to get out of Indiana and go see the world. I joined the Navy as a multimedia specialist, and left for bootcamp in 2004. I served in Washington, D.C., Baghdad, Iraq, and finally aboard USS Abraham Lincoln. Maintaining a ship is an all hands responsibility, and even though I was a multimedia specialist aboard the ship, I really enjoyed working with my hands, making repairs and maintaining our equipment. As much as I loved the Navy - great friends, cool experiences, and traveling to far-off lands, I knew the Navy lifestyle was not how I wanted to raise my family. I decided I would leave the Navy after six fun-filled years.
I followed my heart down to San Diego to be with my then girlfriend, Brianne, where she was serving in the Navy after our time together on USS Abraham Lincoln. During this period, I began to notice restaurants, businesses, and homes being built and decorated with reclaimed building materials and furniture. I knew that my home state of Indiana was full of beautiful, old agricultural and commercial buildings that were in need of new life. I knew that I would begin reclaiming these materials as soon as Brianne's enlistment was up and we could return to Indiana.
We returned to Indiana just over 3 yrs ago and have hit the ground running with Wabash Lumber from the beginning. I entered the business by salvaging my own barns and had the privilege of salving the lumber from a number of barns with beautiful wood and a long history.
We've added a full service production wood shop for processing reclaimed lumber into a variety of different reclaimed wood applications from paneling, siding, flooring, box beams, and more.
It's been a pleasure getting to know so many people through a shared connection of vintage lumber.