When looking at an old barn, many people may only see old wood, but Steve Huchting, co-owner of Rangewood Ranch in Carnuel, sees New Mexico’s history, stories and culture.
“We realize that it is not just preserving the history, but it is about preserving the stories,” Huchting said. “When someone buys wood from us, we tell them the story of the wood. It is not in the landfill and it is not getting buried on the ranches. We are preserving the history and the culture of New Mexico and we’re bringing these stories back to life.”
Huchting and his wife, Claudia, who has worked in the film industry specializing in hair and special effects makeup for 33 years, opened the Rangewood Ranch in 2008. They have saved countless historical artifacts by dismantling and reclaiming parts of old historic buildings and barns. Three businesses make up the Rangewood family — Rangewood Ranch, Reclaimers and Remodelers.
The ranch houses a showroom that has coffee, decor and gifts. The inventory includes products such as earrings, bracelets, handmade soap, wooden crosses, charcuterie boards, magnets and spoons that come from other ranches, small businesses and artists. Rangewood also crafts wood boxes to store veterans’ flags at no charge. The ranch is used for events like dog adoptions, wedding venues and photo shoots.
The showroom is managed by Addie Waller, who was initially a customer. Waller, who has worked for the company for two years, manages social media and helps customers seeking materials.
“I enjoy interacting with the customers and digging through the wood,” said Waller. “The customers actually appreciate the history and where the wood has come from.”
Customers can go to the ranch to browse the showroom and drink a cup of coffee or hot cocoa by the outside fireplace, or visit the warehouse across from the showroom. The warehouse is filled with wood including oak, Douglas fir and vigas dating back to the early 1900s.
“Customers can go to the warehouse and pick what they want and take it, or if they want to work with the remodelers, they can have the person who is going to work with them walk through and explain the process to them and draw it out,” said Nathan Geary, director of operations for Rangewood Reclaimers, who has worked for the company for four and a half years.
Rangewood Reclaimers has a four-person crew that includes Huchting and Geary. They analyze the layout of the old barns and buildings to decipher how to carefully dismantle them so the wood can be repurposed to build a more sustainable environment. Geary said larger projects involve camping at the site and since they often use specialized equipment that removes one nail at a time, it takes them within four to five days to finish.
“Preserving New Mexico history and culture one piece at a time became our tagline because we are 100% committed to that and sometimes we have had to take a barn down one piece at a time,” Huchting said.
They travel around New Mexico and neighboring states to dismantle old buildings and restore the wood into mantles, tables, shelves, headboards, doors, fences, and benches. They have worked with the ABQ BioPark Zoo, Historic Lobo Theater and New Mexico Piñon Coffee.
Smokey Bear’s barn
In 2020, they dismantled the S. Omar Barker pole barn where Smokey Bear was raised. While there is history from the 82-year-old barn, there is a new story Huchting thinks of because of how the wood was repurposed. A customer, who was an archaeologist stationed in Lincoln County, contacted Rangewood inquiring about materials to build a headboard.
“I told him why don’t you make it out of the wood from the Smokey barn since Smokey was found in Lincoln County and he and his dad worked on the project together,” Huchting said. “He later sent an email thanking us and said it brought him and his father closer together. The stories are just as important as the history and the culture.”
While Huchting and Geary love what they do, they take cautious measures since the projects can be life-threatening. The organization also has a salvage contract that allows them to decide whether they want items attached, around or in the barn. This is why the ranch has old antlers, wagon wheels, gears and tools that draw in production companies who rent these artifacts to use for film props.
Geary said his favorite part of his job is the dismantling process and seeing the beginning and end products of the restored wood.
“You never know what someone is going to want,” he said. “We can bring something into the warehouse, it may have jagged edges and be partially a tree still, and it will be sitting in the warehouse for a year and then somebody will come and say it is perfect for what they are wanting. It is nice to have something done and have a person go ‘wow that is going to go perfectly inside my house.’”
Respect and safety are the aspects Huchting prioritizes at Rangewood and said having employees like Geary and Waller is what helps the organization succeed in its mission.
“I am willing to go through 100 resumes to get one person for this organization, I want the unicorns,” he said. “This company is not here because of me, it is here because of everybody that works here who is committed to the outcome.”
Rangewood is a member of the East Mountain Historical Society and is working with officials from the University of New Mexico to become more ADA-compliant. Huchting said they are continuously working hard to show the organization’s ethics and integrity to preserve history, one piece of wood at a time.