Jon Heyesen
CEO of Arbor Wood Co.
Jon Heyesen
FAME: How do you describe Arbor Wood’s approach to natural wood to homeowners encountering your products for the first time?
JH: Our approach is rooted in respect for wood as a naturally beautiful and sustainable material. We don’t try to disguise it or make it behave like something synthetic. Instead, we use thermal modification to enhance its natural strengths—durability, stability, and longevity—while preserving the character and beauty that make real wood so aesthetically appealing. Homeowners get an authentic wood product with performance that meets modern expectations.
Anthony Timberland Center
©Tim Hursely
FAME: When you speak with homeowners, what values or themes come up most often in conversations about wood as a modern material?
JH: Authenticity, sustainability, and longevity come up most often. Homeowners want materials that feel real, align with their environmental values, and will stand the test of time. There’s also a strong desire for connection to nature—wood brings natural warmth and beauty into spaces that might otherwise feel overly fake, manufactured or sterile.
“Homeowners want materials that feel real, align with their environmental values, and will stand the test of time”
AmazonDII5
©Hall, Merrick, Mccaugherty
FAME: How do you balance the beauty and character of natural wood with the performance expectations of today’s projects?
JH: That balance is exactly where Arbor Wood Co. operates. Natural variation is part of wood’s appeal, but today’s projects require consistency and reliability. Thermal modification allows us to dramatically improve dimensional stability and resistance to decay without chemicals, so the wood performs at a high level while still looking and feeling like wood and gracefully aging the way real wood does.
“Thermal modification allows us to dramatically improve dimensional stability and resistance to decay without chemicals”
FAME: What misconceptions about wood do you find yourself addressing most often with homeowners?
JH: One of the biggest misconceptions is that wood isn’t durable enough for exterior use or that it requires excessive maintenance. When wood is thermally modified properly, it can perform exceptionally well outdoors - This is why we adhere to the International ThermoWood® Association (ITWA) standards. Another misconception is that sustainable materials mean compromise—but in many cases, thermally modified wood products outperform conventional options both visually and environmentally.
FAME: How do you see the role of wood evolving as sustainability and long-term resilience become more central to design decisions?
Riverside House
©AshDeck & Soffit, Joe Akar
“Wood is becoming increasingly relevant...Modified wood offers a rare combination of sustainability, resilience, and beauty. ”
JH: Wood is becoming increasingly relevant. It’s renewable, it stores carbon, and it can be responsibly sourced. As people think more holistically about building performance and environmental impact, modified wood offers a rare combination of sustainability, resilience, and beauty. I believe wood will play a much larger role in the future of high-performance design.
FAME: Does Arbor Wood offer any fire-resistant products?
JH: Yes—we offer our ThermoWood® in combination with SaferWood™ Thermex-FR which is designed to meet stringent fire-performance requirements. It achieves a Class A fire rating, making it suitable for applications where fire resistance is a priority, including many exterior cladding and decking projects. It is suitable for use in WUI zones and also helps maintains the natural look and feel of real wood.
Iron Ranger
©Troy Thies
FAME: Does the fire rating wear off over time?
JH: No, it is a single treatment for lifetime performance. SaferWood’s fire performance is not a topical coating that degrades or wears away. The treatment penetrates the wood, providing long-term fire resistance and ultimate confidence for fire prone areas.
FAME: Looking ahead, how do you hope to see Arbor Wood and the use of natural materials evolve in architecture?
JH: I hope to see natural materials like wood become a default choice rather than an exception—especially in high-performance architecture. At Arbor Wood Co., we want to continue expanding what’s possible with thermally modified wood, helping architects, designers, contractors, and homeowners see it as a forward-looking material that supports resilience, sustainability, and meaningful design.
Glacial Lake House 4
©Troy Thies
“I hope to see natural materials like wood become a default choice rather than an exception”