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Welcome to British American! |
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 Teak Furniture - Our Tradition
Our family, like generations of families before us, came to America with a dream. Many dreams were made of gold. But ours was made of teak, specifically teak furniture. In 1971, my wife, Rosemary, and I took our life savings and founded British American, with the dream of building our future by introducing fine teak furniture to America. No other company had done it as yet. So, we would be the first. We thought we were quite clever. Our friends thought we were quite crazy.
Perhaps, it did seem a bit crazy. In those days, redwood and cedar were the prevailing woods of choice for outdoor furniture. They had long dominated the market and were viewed as the gold standard. Our teak furniture, on the other hand, was virtually unknown, untested and unproven in America.
So, we had our work cut out for us. But then, dreams don’t just happen; you make them happen. So, we set about telling our tale of teak to anyone who would listen. The reaction we got made us even more confident that in time we could make teak a tradition in America as it had long been in our native Great Britain.
Timeless Teak The British tradition of teak is centuries old. Discovered by Royal Botanical Society Naturalists in its native Burma, Tectona Grandis (teak) was soon recognized as the vastly superior wood that it is. Teak is astonishingly strong, even stronger than English oak. It is amazingly durable, virtually impervious to the elements, insects and rot. Truly beautiful, a fine grained wood that naturally weathers to the most distinguished shade of silver grey. And, perhaps best of all, teak requires no maintenance.
So, for all good reasons teak fast became the coin-of-the-realm in wood. It built the tall ships of the Royal British Navy, the fine furniture for British colonies throughout the tropical regions of the world, and of most import to us, the elegant outdoor benches that have long graced the great public parks, cultural institutions and grand country estates of England and throughout the world. There are teak benches in Hyde Park that are well over 100 years old. And there were probably others in their place for a century before that.
Enduring Craftsmanship From the very beginning to this very day, we have been committed to the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship to guarantee that our British American outdoor furniture is truly the finest in the world.
We use only the best grade of Certified Burmese teak. For us, the lesser grades from other countries, that many of our competitors use, simply won’t do. We employ only the most seasoned master craftsmen, who are well skilled at the fine furniture art of mortise and tenon joinery. We twice check the fit and finish quality of every piece of furniture we make. And we guarantee it for life, which few of our competitors have the confidence to do.
I believe it has been this steadfast commitment to quality and our deep desire to satisfy customers that helped us make our British American dream become a reality.
Today, British American is one of only a handful of premier providers of fine teak outdoor furniture to parks, municipalities, cultural institutions and universities throughout the United States. We plan on continuing our Legacy with the same commitment and enthusiasm as when we founded our company many decades ago. I guess we weren’t so crazy after all.
British American -A Tradition In Teak
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![Teak Furniture by British American [home link]](/includes/templates/template_default/images/balogo.jpg "Teak Furniture by British American [home link]")
.jpg "MC21M Half-Circle Seat With Medway Arms")