The evolution of Waterworks has been one of the design industry’s most highly regarded success stories. What started in Connecticut as a family fixture and fittings business has developed into a global home brand whose core values of authenticity, craftsmanship, and quality have remained constant throughout expansion and changes in ownership. Much of the triumph of Waterworks can be attributed to CEO Peter Sallick.

Celebrating over 30 years with the company, we checked in with Peter to take a nostalgic and personal look back at the early years, gain insight into its ascendancy as a luxury brand, and discover what’s ahead for this business with, arguably, some of the most loyal customers in the design industry. Don’t miss Peter’s answers to our candid Editor’s Questionnaire at the end of this story.

Your parents started Waterworks in the 70’s and you joined the company in 1993 after business school and a career in investment banking. Had you always imagined joining the family business? 

I began my career in finance but quickly realized I was more independent minded, creative, and entrepreneurial. My background has been valuable, but it was not my passion. In making a big change, I followed my intuition. Maybe it was meant to be, but it wasn’t a conventional path that brought me to Waterworks, nor has it been since. I like to say that we’re an unconventional family business.

My grandfather started a plumbing-supply company in the 1920s, and my parents saw the opportunity to move from plumbing that lives behind the wall to plumbing that lives in front of the wall back in the late ’70s. When I joined in 1993, Waterworks was still a small business importing and selling beautiful, but not our own, products. At the onset, I built critical showrooms across the country and created what is now a completely proprietary product collection. Later, we had a private equity owner and, now, a large corporate owner and, yet, we remain closely tied to our family roots and our core values. Our employees have incredibly long tenures, and we treat our customers as if they were family, because they are.

Under your leadership, you have taken a well-respected bathroom fixture company and built a global resource for the bath, kitchen, and home. Obviously, that doesn’t happen overnight. What were the first steps you took to expand the company in the early years of your tenure?

First, a complete commitment to open our own showrooms. No one else in the bath and kitchen industry was doing this; everyone else was selling through distributors. Importantly, it gave us a way to have direct relationships with our clients. Showrooms also allowed us to present who we are comprehensively and in a pure way.

Second, shifting from importing the niche brands my parents had cultivated to designing our own products. Owning our designs and leading the industry in this area was an essential component to creating the brand we have today.

Third, committing to building a brand that was about the entire bath and kitchen environment. It took us a while to get there —adding lighting, tile and stone, cabinetry—but the vision was there from the start. We wanted to express our understanding of design for the entire room.

With each step, we followed the core tenets: authentic and original designs, quality craftsmanship achieved by staying closely involved in all aspects of production and having direct connection to our customers and the service commitments that go with that relationship.

I have always been partial to Waterworks because it started as a family business. How important has loyalty been to the company’s longevity? 

Loyalty is essential, especially for a trade-oriented business. If you disappoint the trade audience, it’s not like you can go out and find millions of new customers; it’s a defined population. Connection to our customers was a big part of the rationale behind having our own showrooms. From the beginning, it has been about meeting with them, getting to know them, and listening.

We have found deep loyalty within our internal teams as well. Many of our exceptionally talented team members have been here 10, 15, 20+ years. We’re an unconventional family business with an uncompromising commitment to quality in everything we do. While that makes our work challenging, I think we’re all proud of our integrity and longevity. It’s a team effort.

Finot Collection

Waterworks’s creative collaborations began early on. Tell us about working with designers and architects.

It’s funny because collaborations have become such a large and visible part of some companies’ strategies in recent years. Yes, we have done them, but it’s a layer and not the core of our approach to creating products. When we collaborate outside the company, it’s been based on a moment of inspiration that led us to a design-based decision. There wasn’t a “marketing” aspect to it.  We didn’t do it for the name or their social following. We just wanted to work with great designers who would extend our design direction in new ways. Over time, we’ve built and expanded our in-house design team—the source of some of our most iconic designs.

Henry Collection

I fitted my own house with Waterworks nearly 20 years ago. I’m happy to see that many of those collections are still available today. Which collections have been most popular over the years?

I’m so happy to hear that. We spend great care in designing our collections to be timeless and relevant in the moment. We always ask, “Would we use this in our own homes?”

Henry is our most loved collection. Henry’s power is that it can be whatever you want it to be. Its scale feels substantial. The details convey luxury. There just isn’t a place where it doesn’t work.  We’re also seeing momentum around our Bond family, launched at the beginning of the pandemic. We think of these two collections as great examples of the subtle and careful consideration we give to every detail in the design, not too much and not too little, with the result being original, relevant, and timeless.

Bond Collection

Can we venture to ask which collection is your personal favorite? You can pick two!

Bond. Not only for its exquisite proportions, which allows it to live beautifully in an all-metal application, but I am especially drawn to the ancient artisanal techniques (guilloche) and material applications (color enamel), creating a jewelry-like feel that elevates the collection to the highest levels of artistry.

Architectonics2 Scallop Mosaic |  Natural surfaces

Also, I am a big fan of hand-made tile, so I would have to say our Arch2 tile collection. I love the way glaze works, creating a beautiful surface that varies and moves just enough to be interesting. I love playing with color and seeing how it functions as a design tool.

Alatri

Doria

Clothilde

Waterworks has always valued authentic materials, made by hand with meticulous artistry. I would imagine your makers span the globe. Where are some of the places where your products are made? 

Our relentless pursuit of new resources, materials, and techniques has led to unusual partnerships with the finest factories, workshops, and artisans in Europe and North America, many of which have grown into proprietary, decades-long collaborations.

We have a deep commitment to Portugal and Northern Italy, investing in partial ownership in several factories in both countries. These two centers of our production share an innate culture of craftsmanship, creativity and professionalism. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like we’re all connected. In Northern Italy, for instance, our manufacturer will pick up the finished guilloche handles from the small artisan who does the work and drive them up to the factory. They all know each other. It’s like a family.

R.W. Atlas Collection

I have long admired the quality, depth and variety in your lines. Over the years you have added lighting, accessories, and cabinetry. Will these categories continue to expand?

It’s all about feeling inspired to change. We might be inspired by something we see out in the world, or an insight we glean from customer reactions, or even our own financial analysis. We get excited about ideas and then get to work. Sometimes, the best idea is to focus and to do less so that the best things you already have get a chance to shine.

While the company is now owned by Restoration Hardware, there seems to have been a smooth transition. How have you adjusted to the shift? Have you been able to operate in much the same way as you did before the sale?

Being a part of RH has been a unique and incredibly valuable opportunity for us. We have access to a wide cross section of extremely knowledgeable people—providing insight and perspective into ideas and experiences we would not have had exposure to otherwise.

MOLLIE Aspen designed by The Post Company | Photo: Nicole Franzen

What’s on the horizon for Waterworks? What are you excited about?

Lots to come in 2025! I can’t let out all the news yet, but we can say there will be some pretty amazing products coming out across many of our product categories.

In addition, I am very excited about our commercial business. We are thrilled to collaborate with some of the best hotels in the world and large high-end residential projects, a true validation of the value of our products and the level of engineering and service that stands behind them. From exclusive brands like the Four Seasons, Waldorf, Raffles, and Rosewood to the “cool kids” like Soho House, 9 Orchard, The Chelsea, and the White Elephant—it’s always so inspiring to be a part of bringing these properties to life.

Where in the world would you like to visit that you have never been before? 

Niseko, Japan—deep powder and Japanese food all in one place.

Where are your favorite places to travel that you have already been to? 

Greek Islands, for their simplicity.

Where are you most at peace? 

On a ski slope with my wife, where we can be in nature all day long.

What object or piece of furniture in your home is your most cherished and why?  

My collection of Carl Aubock objects for their workmanship and utility.

What is your favorite museum? 

I love the story being told and the intimacy of the Picasso Museum in Paris.

Who is your favorite artist? 

Of those I collect, I love the work of Dike Blair. I could own dozens of his paintings that show little moments in life.

What is your favorite book or film?  

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan for its wildness.

What is your favorite sport to play or watch?  

I think of myself more into outdoorsmanship than sports—skiing, hiking, biking, sailing vs. something more organized.

What’s on your bucket list you would like to do or try? 

I want to sail a giant 150-foot sailboat around the Med, stopping at chic little beaches and villages along the way.

And finally, if you weren’t the CEO of Waterworks, what profession would you pursue? 

I’d be the creative director of a hotel brand. I love the intersection of real estate development, hospitality, and design.

www.waterworks.com

@waterworks

Produced by Leslie Newsom Rascoe