1800s

In 1898, Rudolph Vall was born the son of a cooper and the grandson of a wagon maker in Czechoslovakia. Coming from humble beginnings, he was starving for opportunity. In hopes of attending a better school and finding work, he moved to Austria as a teenager.

Early 1900s

While living in Austria, he refined his woodworking skills and started building fine furniture for wealthy European families. Unfortunately, the threat of Nazism began to sweep through Austria in the 1930s. Rudolph knew he had to flee Europe to avoid ethnic persecution, so he set out for America. In 1935, he became a citizen of his new country. He settled in Cleveland, Ohio where he continued his passion for woodworking and raised a family. One of his sons, Daniel Vall would carry on the family trade but would add his own artistic flair making wooden sculptures.

Late 1900s

Daniel had an eye for incorporating nature into his work. He spent days walking the shores of Lake Erie collecting driftwood and studying the motion of seagulls that flew overhead. This was the inspiration for his signature sculpture: driftwood carvings of stylized birds.

2000s

Two of Daniel’s six daughters became involved in wood furniture to carry on the family tradition: Linda, a furniture maker, and painter sells her boutique collection to A-list celebrity families. The other daughter, Amy, and her husband, Fred Keppler, began selling antique furniture in Laguna Beach, California and eventually moved into the cabinet business.

Today

Rudolph Keppler, named after his great grandfather, represents the sixth generation in woodworking as president and co-founder of Grand Slabs. Rudolph and his father, Fred, draw from generations of experience to bring Ohio’s majestic hardwoods to the world. The two founders know that it was a tradition which fueled the family’s legacy in woodworking, and tradition that will allow Grand Slabs to continue to supply the grandest of Ohio’s hardwoods to sophisticated clients across the globe