By Michael Good
Redwood
Although redwood continued to be used for framing and siding throughout the 20th century, it was used in trim for a relatively short time, mostly in Victorian houses from the 1880s until about 1910. As the name implies, redwood is very red in color, even without stain. It’s light, relatively soft, impervious to bugs and rot, has a plain figure and is easy to work. The trees were enormous, and only the heartwood, free of knots, was used in trim work. Most of the redwood you can buy today is not heartwood, isn’t red in color and doesn’t have any insect-fighting properties. Salvaged wood is available, however. If your house is trimmed in redwood, consider yourself very, very lucky.
Douglas Fir
Actually a pine tree, Douglas fir was known as Oregon pine back in the day. It was used for framing long spans and interior trim, and was either finished clear or painted. The trees grew to 300 or more feet in height. There is a big difference between old growth fir and the new growth fir that is widely available today. This has contributed to fir’s reputation as a “paint grade wood.” It’s not; it’s pretty much the classic arts-and-crafts finish grade wood, found in bungalows large and small from 1900 to 1940. It was originally stained every color imaginable, from bright green or yellow, to deep red to light amber. Because of changes in weather patterns and the decimation of old-growth groves, the Douglas fir that is found in San Diego’s bungalow neighborhoods should be considered extinct. They won’t be making any more, ever.
American Red Gum
Popularly know as “Gumwood,” American red gum is often misidentified as eucalyptus. It’s not. It’s liquidambar styraciflua, the most common hardwood in the Southern United States. In the teens and twenties, the Southern lumber industry heavily advertised Gumwood in California design magazines, creating an aura around it that didn’t exist where it grew. Like a prophet who can’t get any respect in his hometown, red gum came to be revered in San Diego. It’s still the most highly prized trim wood among San Diego homeowners. Red gum does have red highlights, but it’s more golden in color, with some dashes of deep brown. The heartwood that was used in the 1920s is hard to find today. Only the highly figured variety is available, and not very widely at that.
Philippine Mahogany
The United States invaded the Philippines in 1899, but the war actually dragged on in guerrilla form until 1915 or so, when the resistance finally collapsed. After that, Philippine mahogany began to appear in houses in San Diego. It found widest acceptance in Spanish-style homes, where it seemed to offer both a formality and refinement, with its plain, ribbon-like figure. Philippine mahogany isn’t a true mahogany. Today, it’s known as maranti, or lauan, and is used in plywood and doors skins. The maranti available today can be pinkish in color, while the old growth Philippine mahogany was golden brown, and was stained a dark reddish brown.
White Oak
White oak was used infrequently for trim in San Diego, probably because of the expense of shipping it by rail. (In the Midwest, where it grew, it was relatively inexpensive.) It can be found in some Victorian homes and in the larger Craftsman and Prairie Style homes of South Park and Mission Hills. White oak was commonly used for floors, however, because of its hardness, and on front doors in the form of a veneer. It’s widely available today, in both quarter sawn and plain sawn varieties.
Yellow Birch
This is the rarest of the common San Diego finish woods, probably found in less than 10 percent of the houses built prior to 1930. It’s very pretty, can be stained a variety of colors, and has a nice, refined look. It was used most often in higher-end (though not usually large) bungalows of the 1920s, particularly in Mission Hills. Birch grows throughout the western U.S., but the birch that is available today comes from Eastern Canada, and is much whiter in color.
Pine
Various types of white pine were used in windows and doors throughout San Diego from the late 19th century through the 1950s. Window manufacturers such as Anderson claimed in advertisements that they preferred white pine because it was light and dimensionally stable. When used in doors and windows, pine was stained to match the other finish wood in the room. Sometimes it was faux grained to resemble hardwoods, such as oak and red gum. Most homeowners today don’t realize that their windows are different from the other wood trim in their home.
