About Us

Bruce M. MacDonald

Bruce is president of Ashwood Restoration Inc..  A Westchester native, he has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute.   He was Restoration Carpenter at Historic Hudson Valley Inc. for four years where he worked on its properties, Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, Philipsburg  Manor-Upper Mills, Van Cortlandt Manor, and the Union Church in Pocantico Hills. 

He left there to start Ashwood Restoration Company which he owned until 2002.   He has studied with Toshio Odate, the Japanese-American authority on Japanese woodworking and tools, and learned timber frame construction from Stuart Elliot an authority on timber framing.  He also learned restoration trades and practices at the National Trust for Historic Preservation at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, NY.  

Bruce is a former President and trustee of the Westchester Preservation League where he served for 14 years. He has been a member of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee which advises the County of Westchester regarding the management and care of their many historically significant properties for the past 15 years.  The committee plays a vital role in the review of capital projects, plans and proposals for these historic buildings, landscapes, and archeological sites.  He also serves on the Building Committee for the Hudson Valley Writer's Center, in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

Bruce has had many speaking engagements including The Jay Heritage Center, Rye, NY, The Bedford Historical Society, The Westchester Preservation League, and the Ossining Women's Club.  He is a guest speaker at Pratt Institue for a course offered three times a year on historic preservation practices. The course, conducted by the architect Martin Kravitt, is for continuing education credit for architects.