Our Story

1990

Barbara and her family, the Yoders, set out to clean their old chicken house, and turn it into a furniture store. So Homestead Furniture was born. At the time, Barbara was engaged to be married to Ernest Hershberger. Ernest was a fourth-generation wood worker and currently working at a custom-kitchen cabinet shop in the area.

1995

After Ernest and Barbara married, they both poured their heart and soul into both their family and Homestead Furniture. Ernest began using his woodworking background to make decisions in the business. He began selling furniture how he would sell custom-cabinets. Customers would come into the store with special requests and he’d listen to their needs, and create furniture based on what they asked for.

Back in those days, we ordered furniture from the South but every time Ernie submitted an order for something custom, he’d get a big “NO” back from the manufacturers. The builders we’re building pieces by the hundreds or thousands, and they were not willing to build specialized custom furniture.

1996

When the out-of-state manufacturers refused to build custom furniture, Ernest had to get creative. He actually started getting random pieces of furniture made at the custom-cabinet shops he worked at. Although that worked for a short while, soon the orders grew and cabinet shops no longer could help build furniture on the side.

1998

Seeing the need for bespoke furniture on the rise, Homestead began making some of their own furniture. The first official ‘factory’ was the top level of a barn that now sits beside the current store. There were four employees and they crafted any and custom furniture for customers that came into the store.

2001

Ten years after opening the doors, Homestead had outgrown the chicken coop. In April of 2001 the Hershberger family opened the doors to their new 33,000 sq. ft. store. The new three-story building sits a half mile north of the chicken coop.

2005

Homestead continued to listen to the customers’ needs, and build furniture to solve the customers’ problems. As business continued to grow, the need for manufacturing space grew too. In 2005, the Homestead Factory was built, across the street from the store. With the added space, the factory was able to produce the highest quality furniture for their customers.

2007

As we studied the market, Homestead saw an need for high-end, USA-made designer-friendly furniture. Abner Henry, named after Ernest’s great grandfather and father, was founded to fill that need. This American-made cutting edge furniture is not only at Homestead, but also commissioned by designers throughout the country.

2009

With both the rising demand for custom furniture between Homestead and Abner Henry, more space was needed in the factory. In 2009, several improvements were added to the Homestead Factory, and the manufacturing space was increased to 45,000 sq. feet.

2013

As the market shifted, the team at Homestead noticed that color in the furniture industry was growing to be more and more important. The Color Lab was created. With the color lab, the Homestead Factory was able to start creating original colors. What started as 30 stains, has now grown to over 2,000 different colors, paints and stains. To this day the lab is constantly creating new high definition colors made from layering shades and textures on top of each other.

In the same year, Jim Snip joined the team as an in-house furniture designer. Jim had oodles of experience in the industry. With Jim’s help, Homestead was able to combine the tried and true principles of American-made Amish craftsmanship with cutting edge scale and refinement of cutting-edge styles.

2014

While customers were coming from all over the place, Homestead set out to create a sort of oasis for friends to relax and unplug. In 2014, the Gardens at Homestead was completed with a gorgeous arboretum, an eight-foot waterfall and an event center. The Gardens is a place everyone is invited to take a break or even host their own event in addition to the Homestead events hosted there.

2016

Although Homestead will always stay in tune with it’s traditional roots, the team began to notice styles within the furniture market shift away from traditional, shaker and mission-style pieces. Research was made a priority so that Homestead can always anticipate trends and offer exactly what styles and colors customers ask for.

2018

As the market trends shift, it was time to update. While the inside of the store, the furniture and the designs we’re constantly evolving, the outside of the store needed to catch up. In 2018, Homestead upgraded the exterior of the store, to better reflect who Homestead is a company and what we’ve got to offer.

Plus, because of the research in the market and the connections to the designer trade, Homestead created West Hall, an exclusive designer-show room. Open to the trade, West Hall showcases the latest Abner Henry styles and colors.