By admin 
Six months after a crash destroyed a Rancho Cordova furniture store’s iconic 40-year-old waterwheel, the company unveiled the rebuilt landmark, constructed using the original plans.
Read more PG&E fined $22 million for 2022 Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties
Cars speeding by on Highway 50 honked while passengers cheered and waved as they passed by Naturwood Home Furnishings at 12125 Folsom Blvd.
The company, founded in 1948, remained family-owned, making the wheel’s restoration especially meaningful, president Lisa Keyes said. The wheel had been at the Rancho Cordova location since 1985, making Naturwood known as “the building with the wheel.”
» Rancho Cordova news in your inbox: Get our free email newsletter here
“My grandfather … he was a contractor and an engineer … and my father, John Keyes, worked side by side right here on this property to construct the original water wheel,” Keyes said. “It soon became the Naturwood logo and a familiar landmark on Highway 50.”
The family used Keyes’ grandfather’s original drawing to rebuild the wheel. Construction began in June and was led by a company owned by Keyes’ son-in-law.
“Immediately after the Valentine’s Day accident, we received calls from the community and customers if the water wheel would come back,” Keyes said. “We never questioned that the water wheel is coming back.”
The crash occurred in February when a vehicle traveling eastbound on Highway 50 left the roadway and struck a chain-link fence and the wrought-iron fence surrounding the business’ parking lot, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver, a 23-year-old man, sustained critical but non-life-threatening injuries and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, a CHP spokesperson said in February.
Read more South Lake Tahoe Mayor Cody Bass guilty of harassment in 2025 brewpub scuffle
Keyes said the family saved some of the 40-year-old wood from the original wheel and planned to “make something out of the pieces,” though the family had not decided what to make.
“It means a lot to me,” Keyes previously told The Bee. “My dad had his hands on it, and he’s no longer with us.”
Rancho Cordova Vice Mayor Linda Budge said she and her family had a personal connection to the Naturwood owners, as her husband had attended high school with some of Keyes’ family.
Budge estimated that the furniture store was among the city’s largest generators of sales tax revenue and said the wheel was a symbol of its success.
“The most symbolic mission of the water wheel is to let everyone know they’re in Rancho Cordova,” Budge said.
Keyes said the family was grateful for the outpouring of community support.
“Hopefully, this is the last rebuild,” Keyes said. “We’ll protect it the best we can.”
Read more Armed men claiming to be ICE agents tried to enter Sacramento immigration law firm