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 | About Us Our HeritageWe're often asked the question, "Where did the name 'Estemerwalt' come from?" Well, the story of Estemerwalt Log Homes begins back in 1883 with Peter Propst. In those days teams of horses pulled the logs to a portable steam-powered sawmill that was set up right next to the railroad tracks. The lumber and timbers that were sawn were used primarily for structural support inside of the local anthracite coalmines. | |||||||||
Even though the coal mining industry in northeastern Pennsylvania declined, Propst Lumber Company prospered, and a successful sawmill and retail store was opened in Archbald, Pennsylvania. It was around this time that Peter purchased a beautiful parcel of land with a lake in Honesdale, Pennsylvania for hunting, fishing, and recreational use. He renamed the body of water "Lake Estemerwalt", which is a combination of the names of Peter's three children, Esther, Emory, and Walter. Emory Propst took over the family business and ran the Archbald store for many years. Eventually, he passed the torch to his son, Robert Propst, who moved Propst Lumber Company to its current location in Honesdale and filled the local need for hardwood lumber.
Kurt Propst currently serves as president of Estemerwalt Log Homes. In 2006, Kurt’s daughter, Elizabeth Reece, joined Estemerwalt, where she serves as director of marketing, ensuring that the Estemerwalt name and brand will continue to grow and prosper for many more years and generations to come. Our PeopleTo make the best products, you need the best people. Here at Estemerwalt we are lucky and proud to have the best staff that any company could ever hope for. Their continuing dedication to service, integrity, and craftsmanship is one of the main reasons for our success. Our PhilosophyHere at Estemerwalt, we have always been dedicated to preserving and responsibly managing our nation's forests so that these resources will be available for future generations. Our efficient production facility ensures that we are able to get the most out of our logs for lumber and log homes. The chipped scrap lumber from the sawmill is sold and used in paper production, the bark is sold and ground into mulch, the scraps from lumber production are used to heat our round log home production facility, and the sawdust is used to fire our three dry kilns. Our dry kilns are so efficient that it takes only one fifth of our daily sawdust output to maintain the heat needed for kiln drying. If we were using fuel oil, we would be consuming 240 gallons per day. We estimate that since we first built our dry kilns in 1995 that we have saved over one million gallons of fuel oil. | ||||||||||
In 1980, Robert's son Kurt decided to enter the family business. Recognizing the growing trend in log homes, Kurt and his father slowly shifted the business to finished white pine products and log home packages. It was at this point that the name of the business was changed from Propst Lumber to Estemerwalt Log Homes to signal the company’s new direction and focus. The thriving business continued to grow and is now a full-service sawmill and log home production facility.