What is now LV Wood was founded in 1985 in Buffalo, NY by master antique & millwork refinisher, Jim Caroll. Mr. Caroll built a thriving business restoring the finishes of priceless antiques, millwork, and flooring in the Gilded Age mansions that line the Olmstead designed  Parkways of his hometown. These opulent residences, built by the industrial and financial elite of the early 1900’s, provided a unique classroom for Mr. Caroll. He quickly developed a true “reverence for wood” - a term he used often and named his first company after, paying homage to one of the greatest books ever written on wood and its uses, as well as its ability to warm the body and the soul.

In the early 1980’s, Mr. Caroll noticed the rising trend in wood flooring, watching as plank flooring gained popularity over the carpet and linoleum products that had been the norm for so many years. In 1985, he opened Buffalo Hardwood in a modest storefront on Hertel Avenue in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of North Buffalo.

With his wife and business partner Carolyn Caroll at his side, Pops and CC, as they were affectionately called, worked hard to place the company atop the wood flooring industry in the local market. The duo won prestigious awards from the National Wood Flooring Association for their uniquely high-end work, year after year.

The company became the leading supplier of wood flooring for the new home construction market in Buffalo, which was rapidly growing at the time. Over the next 15 years the business doubled and tripled in size, and Jim & Carolyn found themselves building a substantial new showroom and warehouse facility, just outside of the city.

Throughout this time, Jim & CC began traveling extensively Italy, attending design shows and architecture exhibitions along the way. At one point, Mr. Caroll’s acumen for all things wood caught the attention of a prestigious Italian wood floor manufacturer.

In 1999, the two companies met outside of Milan to discuss the potential for them firms products in the US market. Many espressos and a few negations later, a deal was struck for the Caroll’s to represent the Italian firm throughout all of North America. A new company with the sole purpose discovering the finest architectural wood products in Italy and bringing them to market in the USA was born.

The name of this new company was Legno Veneto - Legno meaning wood, and Veneto being the region in Italy where the companies were based.

In 2000, Mr. Caroll’s son James and daughter Giulia joined the effort. With the additional family-power and a solid, established team in Buffalo, it wasn’t long before Legno Veneto represented numerous Italian firms. Legno Veneto worked hand in glove with these firms, identifying trends in the market and developing products that followed suit, as well as serving as the import and distribution point for the firms’ products across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In 2005 Legno rehabilitated a dilapidated industrial property to serve as its national sales, sampling, and logistics center. With the new space came new a product base, focusing primarily on American made materials - wide planks with true hand scraping, and truly hand applied finishes. These new offerings brought the senior Mr. Caroll back to his re-finishing roots, while Mr. Caroll’s son James spearheaded the effort on product development, marketing and branding. The father-son team formed strategic partnerships with the best “boutique” mills in the country and developed some of the finest finishing and distressing methods ever implemented in the industry - methods still in practice by the company today.

With the onset of the Euro and a changing global economy, the Italian side of the business showed signs of slowing, and the company’s focus changed course yet again. The firm was determined to becoming the architecture and design world’s top source for domestically made wood flooring, and in that shift, LV Wood was born.

Since the early days in Buffalo, a lot has changed for the Carolls and for their business. The company has grown and evolved a few times over, but what hasn’t changed is that LV Wood is a family company, with long time employees who are like family.

Mr. Caroll lived a life full of a unique blend of kindness, courage, and generosity, and it is with these virtues as guides that LV Wood continues to operate to this day.