Saluda Rustics, a new custom-made furniture shop, has opened in the historic Saluda Depot next to Duck Alley and the Saluda Library.

Owners Brant Davis and Whitney Stroud are in the process of fixing up the old luggage room of Suite C of the depot, according to Davis, to officially open in July. Stroud is a seventh grade English teacher in South Carolina.

“It was Whitney’s idea to come here in spring break, and my mind was set on Brevard or Asheville because I mountain bike,” Davis, who is from upstate New York, said. “I really wanted to be somewhere close to a bunch of biking trails. We rented a cabin here near Saluda and I was amazed at this place.”

Stroud added she grew coming in the summers to Saluda, going to events like Coon Dog Day. Steamy Mug, a coffee shop that opened earlier this year in Saluda, is something she said was warm and inviting.

“We started hanging out with people here when I came down and it was just great how everyone was so friendly and laid back,” Davis said. “I commented to Whitney that I’ve lived in my town in New York for 15 years, and I go into the coffee shop and it’s like they don’t even know me and that town had 250 people.”

Having also lived in Colorado, Davis said Saluda reminded him of when he was living in Colorado because of the sense of community. Looking for a place to set up a store became the next thing on Davis’ list.

“I had a gallery up in New York for almost ten years and wanted something like that here,” Davis said. “It was a rustic furniture store with a mountain living type feeling. The majority of what I did was designing and selling furniture and wanted to get back into that again.”

Renting the space in the historic depot for a year, according to Stroud, was negotiated with the Saluda Historic Depot board.

Davis said the process of crafting a custom-made piece takes him anywhere from four to six weeks to complete from start to finish. His creations combine a mixture of natural edge wood, figured wood, reclaimed barn wood, hickory, burls, stumps, bark, antler, metals and other materials.

“Brant was selling furniture to furniture stores maybe five years ago down here and that’s how it started,” Stroud explained. “Building relationships with them interested us in coming down here.”

Davis said he became accustomed to the mountain biking aspect of life here in western North Carolina when he decided to bring his mountain bike down on one of his business trips.

“The more I came down to this area, the more I began to realize how cool this area was and how much is going on down here,” Davis said. “I brought my mountain bike down here once and, once again, everyone was friendly and I asked, ‘Where should I ride?’ and they said, ‘Do this, and here’s a map,’ and I was like this is really cool.”

Long-distance mountain biking is something Davis said he wants to do more of and he hopes to finish the Leadville 100 bike race in Leadville, Colo. at more than 10,000 feet. Lance Armstrong won this race in 2009, and the race stretches 100 miles and 12 hours with more than 14,000 vertical feet of climbing.

Davis currently builds his furniture in a woodshop in Tryon and said he uses vintage woodworking equipment made out of cast iron and vintage equipment. He said he used to be a ski bum and a “dead head,” the term used for fans of the classic rock band The Grateful Dead, before he fell into being a rustic furniture maker.

“I was traveling the country and ended up helping open a ski area in Pennsylvania,” Davis said. “I met a girl whose brother-in-law lived in Jackson Hole, Wyo. That brother-in-law, at a wedding, offered me a job building antler chandeliers. Who would ever buy an antler chandelier? He said ‘Why don’t you move to Jackson and find out?’”

Driving his 1969 Volkswagen bus across the country at 50 miles an hour, Davis moved to Jackson Hole and ended up building small things like the antler chandeliers first before graduating to designing bigger furniture.

“I liked the work, but didn’t like the blonde and her brother-in-law and left Wyoming in 1992,” Davis said. “Went to Flagstaff, Ariz. by way of Tahoe and my sister lived in Reno, Nev. and knew a bunch of people and I started building things there.”

After having surgery on his knee and wrist following a sporting accident, Davis said people were asking him to build furniture for them. Doing custom items, like chairs, tables and bed frames, are what Davis said he likes to build most.

“People liked the antler chandeliers and the quality and began to ask me what else I carried,” Davis said. “I started carrying this and that, went to different shows and I love mixing different materials and seeing what works and doesn’t. I wasn’t trained and didn’t go to school. It was an hour bumping around with a brother-in-law at a wedding.”

To inquire about a custom order, call Saluda Rustics at 877-404-6622 or email info@saludarustics.com. More information about the shop can be found at  www.saludarustics.com.