“I remember my Pop saying he had named his sawmill business Block Brothers for his future sons, before any of us were born. Now I’m proud to carry on that name in a new iteration of the family business that didn’t start until after he was gone.”
Ben gained an early appreciation for the materials he works with today, watching trees turn into logs, logs turn into lumber, and lumber turn into furniture.
Ben’s parents worked in tandem while their sons were growing up. His mom worked for years as the “pilot” at the mill, piling slabs, stacking boards, and rolling logs—all the while pushing each of her three boys in a swing by her side.
Block Brothers Lumber lives on in thousands upon thousands of board feet of lumber in houses and barns throughout New Hampshire and Maine.
In 1992, Ben's parents moved the family and sawmill from Epping, New Hampshire to Monroe, cleared land, and began building a post-and-beam house of their own design. Here, Zach, the youngest Block Brother, helps notch mortises in the pine beams.
They cut the trees. They sawed the lumber. They built the house.
Ben, age 8, hammers pine sheathing onto the north wall of his family’s Monroe home.
Pop with his mallet, 1992.
“I use my Pop’s tools in the shop every day. They serve as a constant reminder of where I came from and how I got here.”
Pop's mallet in the shop today.