Ed Bemis of Bemis Developments Inc. in Ashland, Ore., is a go-with-the-flow sort of man when it comes to customer requests, which came in handy during a whimsical flooring project in a home overlooking the city. Hand surgeon and self-professed shaman Scott Young was building an 8,880-square-foot fantasy home right out of Harry Potter. Along with cloud-shaped windows, a glass-tile dragon mosaic and massive sculpted Brazilian mahogany arched front doors, Young, who goes by "Genesis," asked for 100 feet of wood floor that looked like a flowing river. Bemis, whose crew was also building the rest of the house, was unfazed. Working off Genesis' sketch, Bemis' crew cut ¾-inch-thick cherry, maple, wenge and bubinga into snaking ribbons. While some boards received a spline, most boards were connected using a biscuit joiner and screws and glued down. Bemis also made sure his wood stream acted like a liquid—there are eddies on the upstream side of the two staircases and around the planters made of river rock. The floor changes a foot in elevation from the headwater to the end because of a ramp near the front door, so Bemis says he "bent the wood downhill"—a process he describes as a trade secret. He knows the floor is extraordinary, but he's as even-keeled about the project now as he was when he first heard the request. "Most floor guys would tell us we were nuts and that we'd have all these complications, that it's impossible," he says. "But it really isn't."
