Being Fashionably Late Has Been Fashionable for Some Time
These wood floors go back to before the turn of the century and were installed outdoors. Apparently if you were fashionably late to the opera house the sound of horse and carriage on the pavement was audible inside and caused a distraction.
End Grain Wooden Cobblestones. Photo courtesy Giorgio Verdiani.
Knowing that people would always be turning up fashionably late, these cobblestone wood floors were installed to deaden the sound of hoofs and carriages outside the opera thus making a late appearance less noticeable. So much for a grand entrance.
End Grain Wood Cobblestones in a Running Bond Pattern. Photo courtesy of seoulrider.
Hexagon End Grain Wood Floors. Photos courtesy of Kara Brugman.
samcobb
woodflooringtrends 
Hey WFT,
Great post! Any idea where these wooden tiles were placed and how many years ago? Amazing that they could withstand the elements and traffic for any length of time.
I noticed lately that there is a company in Bulgaria producing wooden tile for indoor application, designed to imitate the look of leather and other materials. It will be interesting to see if wood begins to move into this venue in the future.
One was outside the Budapest Opera House Scott and I believe another was from Prague. As for when they were installed I’d guess around the turn of the century.
My name is Norm Kaswell. The Kaswell family has been marketing and installing end grain blocks since 1946. Last year we replaced a street for the city of Chicago. There is one street remaining in Chicago with end grain blocks. There were once many in Chicago. I loved these images, and would like permission to show them on our website at http://www.kaswell.com. We produce blocks like this, and would welcome further communication. Please write back soon. Thanks, Norm
Sure thing Norm please feel free to use them. Make sure and site the picture sources as I did so the photographer gets credit.
Cheers,
Sam
Hi Sam,
Hope your Wood Flooring Trends Blog continues. I could fill it up with so many unusual applications of our blocks. If you ever get to Miami, check out the One Hotel on Collins Ave. We furnished black locust blocks for the entrance stairs. They came out fantastic. Thanks for responding with permission to use the images. They will eventually appear on our site…….thanks to you. Norm
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