Among the things that distinguish luxurious homes from “nice” houses are detailed architectural millwork, moldings and doors. While the selection of such amenities at big box retailers is plentiful, it’s still, nonetheless, finite and mass manufactured.

Truly discerning homeowners who want their homes to be one-of-kind and personal can look beyond the big boxes and find an extensive, exceptional array of unique, quality products made in Missouri.

Located on the southwestern outskirts of the St. Louis metro in Union, Mo, Wahle’s Wood Works has been supplying high-end, custom architectural millwork to building projects throughout the Midwest— and across the country, for that matter—since the 1980s.

“We manufacture moldings, entry door systems, interior doors, built-in cabinet units and wall panel systems for areas of the home such as libraries and studies,” said Rick Wahle, co-owner of the business with Ron Eckelkamp. “We currently have over 2,100 molding profiles. This is one of the largest millwork knife libraries available. However, we aren’t limited to these profiles as we grind new knives weekly in-house. Other specialty items include radiused openings with coordinating casing as well as barrel vaults with paneled jambs. Hardwood flooring, rosettes, keyblocks, plinths and jamb extensions are also available.”

The company is known for its high-end work.
“The majority of our products go into large high-end custom homes,” Wahle said. “A few of our projects have
been in installed homes of more than 20,000 square feet. Most of the whole house projects we supply start at the million-dollar range and go up from there.”

Wahle’s father, Ken, founded the business.

“He had a passion for wood work and was involved in restoring many St. Louis area churches in the early years of the company,” the younger Wahle said. “In 1988 the company began manufacturing radiused casing for several national window companies. That year the
company incorporated, becoming Wahle’s Wood Works & Moldings, Inc.”

As the founder’s eldest son, Rick joined the business as a partner in 1988, along with Eckelkamp, his brotherin-
law. Eckelkamp and Rick Wahle have been responsible for the daily operations of the shop for the past several years, and took over complete ownership of the company in July 2008 after Ken and his wife, Janet, retired.

The manufacturing facility is more than 50,000 square feet, all of which is humidity controlled, which helps ensure a quality product. The company employs 20 craftsmen and other employees. Despite the custom nature of the products, Wahle still describes his business as “high volume.”

“Most people think of a small shop or someone working from their garage when they hear the term ‘custom millwork.’ As we have grown through the years, we have expanded and have purchased the best automated machinery available,” Wahle said.

“We buy top quality lumber from a few select sources. We sell to several lumberyards as well as window distributors. Most of our products aren’t stocked on the shelves other than items such as rosettes, plinths and key block, or a few lineal moldings. Most of our products are produced specifically for a particular custom home or commercial project.”

Many of Wahle’s customers come to them.

“We have a showroom where we meet with customers to design the millwork for their projects, from molding profiles to interior and custom entry doors or built-in cabinets,” he said.

“We can do CAD drawings while they are here to ensure that they can get a visual of what the items will look like. We also have samples of many of our profiles, which they can take with them. Our company is well-known for the quality of our products. We purchase the best materials available and are very quality conscience during the entire manufacturing
process. Whether grinding a new knife or manufacturing the moldings, we keep everything within a tolerance of 1/1,000th of an inch. Doing this allows us to duplicate historical moldings and doors for restoration projects.”

“No organization builds custom millwork better than Wahle’s,” says Ingram’s Publisher Joe Sweeney. “We’ve seen the organization’s work in the ‘90s in many of the homes we featured in St. Louis Homes & Gardens. We enjoyed Wahle’s products in our St. Louis home and in the home we built in KC.”