This Unique Dining Table Was Created Using Original Suspension Cables From The Golden Gate Bridge

Strands of History is a company based in Tahoe City, California, that produces furniture, sculptures, mementos and other hand-crafted items fabricated from the original Golden Gate Bridge vertical suspender ropes. Recently, in collaboration with Bushey Ironworks and Roundwood furniture, the company created a luxurious walnut dining table reminiscent of the engineering and design found on the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Our philosophy when we took ownership of the business, and these historical suspender ropes, was to create something that was beautiful, inspired, functional, and enduring,” said Mary Zimmerman, one of the co-founders of Strands of History in an interview with Demilked.

“The type of art that most impresses us is when a material is coaxed into displaying opposing properties, like wood appearing fluid, metal appearing soft. We thought about the qualities of the suspender ropes and how to give them an opposing property,” said Mary when asked what inspired them to create the dining table.

“The ropes were designed to be dynamic and accommodate tension, so we fabricated them to be static and handle compression.  This required exploring various techniques to maintain their structural integrity, as well as to preserve the unique lay of the wire, and their inherent attractiveness.”

“We’re fortunate to work with highly skilled and recognized artists and craftsmen that are located near us who were excited to work with this unique medium. Jesse and Aaron Bushey of Bushey Ironworks designed and created the steel base and showed us how forge welding could compress and stabilize the ropes while maintaining the beauty of their individual wires.”

“Andy Cline of Roundwood Furniture suggested using Claro-walnut for the top for its inherent beauty as the grain cascade waterfall seen on the edge mimics the flow of the wire ropes.  The fact that the ropes and the walnut are about the same age (over 80 years old) just adds to the appeal of the table as it brings together two rare materials.”

“The original Golden Gate Bridge suspender ropes were manufactured in Trenton New Jersey at the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company in 1935. During the 1967-1969 Bridge inspection advancing corrosion was discovered at the connection between the roadway and the suspender ropes. Therefore, a major retrofit was undertaken to correct the connections and install new suspender ropes manufactured by US Steel,” told Mary when asked where they got the materials for the project.

Mary says it took under two weeks to create the base of the table and then another five to finish the claro-walnut top.

Here is the team in all its glory – working hard to keep the legacy of the Golden Gate Bridge alive!