About
Our company’s founder, John Michael Kohler, was an Austrian immigrant, a businessman and a visionary. In 1873 he purchased a foundry in rural Wisconsin that produced a variety of cast-iron and steel products.
Ten years later, Kohler took a product in his line, heated it to 1700°F and sprinkled it with enamel powder. Placing a picture of it in the center of his one-page catalog, he called it “a horse trough/hog scalder . . . when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub.” Kohler was in the plumbing business.
From those humble beginnings, our company has grown into a multifaceted global family of brands that lead the way to enhance our customers’ sense of gracious living.
Brownstoner Features
-
The Insider: Just ‘Shy of Gut’ Reno Improves Flow, Light and Utility in Crown Heights Townhouse
The three-story brick townhouse had been occupied for decades by the same owner when a young international couple bought the building -- ... Read More
-
The Insider: Superb Original Plasterwork Drives Design of Fort Greene Duplex Fixer-Upper
The owners of this lower duplex in a brownstone co-op "fell in love with it" because of the elaborate, intact plasterwork on the parlor-l... Read More
-
6 Ways to Transform Your Living Space Without Actually Renovating
Whether you own a townhouse or rent a studio, you want to feel at home, surrounded by decor and furnishings suited to your tastes. If bud... Read More
-
The Insider: Windsor Terrace Row House Updated With Wide-Open Parlor Floor, Fun Tile
Working with a "somewhat limited" budget, Priya Patel and Esther Beke, partners in the Gowanus-based architecture and design studio 4Mati... Read More
-
The Insider: Park Slope Gut Reno Brings Light and High Style to Narrow Townhouse
The recent renovation of this narrow Park Slope townhouse has all the signatures of Gowanus-based Elizabeth Roberts Architecture & Design... Read More
-
The Insider: Narrow Carroll Gardens Brownstone Gets All-White Parlor Floor Makeover, New Baths
Initially, the owner of this slender Carroll Gardens brownstone, a single mom with two young kids who occupy the top three floors of the ... Read More
-
The Insider: Landmarked Greenpoint Row House Gains Cornice, Loses Asbestos and Flooding
The owners of this three-story, 25-by-44-foot row house in the Greenpoint Historic District were so frustrated, they were ready to sell. ... Read More
-
The Insider: Architects Brighten Park Slope Co-op for California Family
Check out the new 'The insider' mini-site: brownstoner.com/the-insider
Relocating from Southern California, the new owners of this... Read More -
The Insider: Original Woodwork Inspires Modern Update in Stuy Heights Limestone
This limestone Bed Stuy townhouse, in an impeccable row of same, was perfection on the outside. Its interior, however, had hopelessly da... Read More
-
The Insider: Derelict Crown Heights Row House Gains Four Spacious, Gracious Rental Units
A young couple, serious about their entrée into the world of investment property, bought a four-story, four-family row house in dire con... Read More