The Lumberyard a social, shopping destination in Illinois Valley

On Saturdays in Seneca, The Lumberyard is a busy place.

Customers aren’t searching for lumber, though. They visit the red building on William Street for coffee, shopping and social time.

The Lumberyard, opened by owners Dave and Erin Stuedemann in 2024, houses multiple small businesses that lease space and offices inside. The building’s name pays homage to the approximately 110 years the site operated as Graves Lumber, but the location now serves as a destination for recreation and retail. Two star attractions are Refuge Coffee, a coffee shop and gathering place, and The Rusty Rooster, a shop that stocks quirky and eclectic home decor and gifts.

The location’s steady traffic on weekday mornings and Saturdays is a drastic change from the past decade. The 8,000-square-foot former lumber building sat empty for about 12 years and fell into disrepair after Graves Lumber closed the site in 2008.

Erin Stuedemann and her husband, Dave, live in rural Seneca and work in the village, and they eyed the decaying building over the years.

“We were like, ‘Somebody needs to buy that space,’” said Erin, a local broker and realtor. “I just felt like somebody should do something with this building and thought, ‘Why not us?’”

Dave said they didn’t have a plan in mind when he and Erin bought the building in 2021. The extent of their goal was to renovate the dilapidated structure and have faith they would find a purpose for it.

As it turns out, a purpose found them – a few days after the sale closed on the building, Erin received a call from fellow Seneca resident Alyssa Ugolini, who had spent years dreaming about running a coffee shop at that location.

“I had been thinking about this building for a super long time. My husband and I had looked at it and saw the potential, but we also saw how much work there was to be done and knew that was not our forte,” Ugolini said. “When we saw [the Stuedemanns] had bought it, my initial thought was, ‘Oh, the dream’s over.’ My husband said, ‘Let’s not be dramatic. Why don’t you call and see what they’re doing.’”

The Stuedemanns were enthusiastic when they connected with Ugolini.

“[Dave and I] said, ‘We’ll build the space, and you can have the coffee shop.’ From the very beginning, it was two dreams intertwined,” Erin said.

Refuge Coffee became the anchor of The Lumberyard, occupying the west side of the building. The shop serves coffee, tea, smoothies, hot chocolate and baked goods. Ugolini is working on a collaboration with Nan’s Catering & Home Cooking of Morris to offer light lunches. She also collaborates with other small businesses in the area to host special events. One such event collaboration was a Galentine’s Day pop-up market, featuring clothing and jewelry from Oleanders Boutique in Morris and permanent jewelry from Permanently You by Jayden.

The coffee shop has ample indoor seating for socializing and a back room that can be reserved for special events. Outside the shop, Dave built a wraparound deck with bench seating where customers can relax in good weather. The deck also provides a prime view of the M.J. Hogan Grain Elevator, a historic landmark along the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

During the three-year renovation, Dave salvaged and repurposed as much wood as possible from the former Graves Lumber business to incorporate into The Lumberyard. The ceiling of the outdoor deck is among the reclaimed wood, and the hardwood floor in Refuge Coffee is original to the nearly 125-year-old structure.

The Stuedemanns made personal touches inside the building as well. The front doors, bathroom mirror frames and the bar doors at Refuge Coffee were crafted by their son, Drake, who owns Drake Woodworking in Seneca. Interior doors and trim were crafted by Nathan Weiss of Ottawa.

In October 2024, The Lumberyard became home to a second small business when Leslie Condon opened The Rusty Rooster. Condon works a full-time job in health care, but she dreamed of owning a shop, so the Stuedemanns established space for her in the building.

The Rusty Rooster is open Wednesday through Saturday and sells a range of lawn ornaments, yard furniture and interior decorations – some products are functional, some are humorous or quirky, and some combine all of those elements.

“I have things like hammocks and swing chairs and fountains. I have a sasquatch collection. I have some Amish-made rugs from Wisconsin. It’s such a random list of things,” Condon said of her inventory. “I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say, ‘Hey, come here! Look at this! I have to have that.’”

Condon said customers discover multiple items that spark excitement as they move farther into the store, and many leave with a new treasure. She summarizes her shop’s collection as “a bunch of things you realized you can’t live without.”

Three expanded shopping opportunities are on the calendar this summer at The Lumberyard. Outdoor farmers markets will take place on the grounds from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays July 19 and Aug. 9.

The Lumberyard is easily accessible from the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trail – bicyclists and hikers can cross the canal on Main Street and immediately turn west on William Street for refreshments and relaxation. The building also is near Graves Park, which hosts a variety of baseball, softball and soccer tournaments.

The building has become a mixed community of locals and out-of-towners. Erin noted she runs into fellow Seneca-area residents she hasn’t seen in 20 years; Dave likened some mornings to an impromptu high school reunion when he reconnects with fellow Seneca High School graduates. However, he encounters plenty of new faces among the familiar ones.

“You get here on a Saturday and you just see people from all over. People from Newark, Somonauk, Streator, Ottawa, Morris. Everywhere,” he said. “It makes you want to talk to people. I love coming here and just listening to people talk.”

Talking and socializing is exactly the vision Erin sees for The Lumberyard.

“It’s a place for friendships to build and to connect with people,” she said.

For more information, visit The Lumberyard’s Facebook page.