What is now LV Wood was founded by master antique & millwork refinisher, Jim Caroll. Mr. Caroll built a thriving business restoring the finishes of priceless antiques, millwork, and wood flooring in the Gilded Age mansions that line the Olmstead-designed Parkways of Buffalo NY.

He 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, its uses, and its ability to warm the body and the soul.

In 1985, Mr. Caroll 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 Western NY, winning multiple prestigious awards from the National Wood Flooring Association for their uniquely high-end work, year after year.

Over the next 15 years, the business grew, and Jim & Carolyn soon built a substantial new showroom and warehouse facility just outside of Buffalo.

In the mid-1990s, Jim & CC  were traveling extensively in Italy attending design shows, art, and architecture exhibitions. The lure of dolce far niente in the Tuscan hill towns proved too much for them to withstand, and they eventually sold the business in Buffalo and spent most of their time abroad. It was around this time that Mr. Caroll’s acumen for all things wood caught the attention of a prestigious Italian wood floor manufacturer. 

In 1999, the two companies met in Milan to discuss the potential for the Italian firm's products in the US market. After many espressos and a lengthy negation, in the true Italian style, a deal was struck for the Carolls to represent the Italian firm in North America.

A new company, intent on 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 many of the companies were based.

In 2000, Mr. Caroll’s son and current LV Wood Principal, James Caroll, traveled to Italy to join the effort. After 18 months of living in Italy, learning the language, and gaining an understanding of doing business in Italy, Legno Veneto had grown to represent numerous Italian firms. Legno Veneto worked hand in glove with these firms, identifying trends in the market and developing materials that followed suit. 

In 2005 Pops & James 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 Mr. Caroll back to his re-finishing roots, while James spearheaded the effort on product development, marketing, and branding. The father-son team formed strategic partnerships with the best “boutique” mills in the USA and developed some of the finest finishing and distressing methods ever implemented in the industry - methods still in practice by the company today.

Eventually, with the Italian side of the business showing signs of slowing, the company’s focus changed course to becoming the architecture & design world’s top source for domestically made wood flooring. In that sea change, Legno Veneto became LV Wood.

In 2006, LV Wood changed models yet again, and James moved to NYC to open the company's first flagship showroom. Opening in 2008, LV Wood's Flatiron showroom was truly the first of its kind. 15 years later, this pioneering showroom still stands in the same space on 20th Street, welcoming industry professionals and end-users from around the world.

In the summer of 2023, LV Wood will open its second flagship in Bozeman Montana, serving the A&D community in the mountain west and ushering in a new era for the firm. 

The energy that fuels the growth and success of LV Wood's endeavors can be traced directly to Pops and CC's legacy of kindness, courage, and generosity. While these tenets may seem simple or basic, to the Caroll family, they are the core values of this short life we live, and they continue to guide the company to this day.