William Morris - The Arts and Crafts Movement.

English reformer, poet, and designer William Morris was among a small group of socialist-thinking pre-Raphaelites who, around the end of the 19th century, changed the direction of English art, architecture, and design. At a time when opulent Victorian style was popular and the Industrial Revolution was taking over in furniture and textile manufacturing, they worked to turn back the clock to the values of craftsmanship, simplicity, and quality materials in what became known as the Arts & Crafts Movement.

This movement that took place across the pond was prior to Roycroft and Stickley. Morris and his cohorts, Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Arthur Hughes, and others were frantically working to return the common man’s environment to the spirit and quality of medieval craftsmanship.

Although the Arts & Crafts Movement relied on the talent and creativity of the craftsman, the outcome of the movement was different in England than it was here. The British version of the Arts & Crafts Movement took on a richly gothic style with white-washed walls and wallpaper carrying medieval themes. The pottery and textiles had intricate, colorful designs. These items made their way, for the most part, to the homes of the upper class. When that Arts & Crafts arrived in America, however, it became much more available to the mass market. Here, machines were used, but craftsmen were still able to assemble and finish the furniture, which lowered the cost and made it affordable to the common man. The grain of the wood was much more emphasized, along with the form of the pot. Walls had rich wood tones or earth-tone paints. Very little wallpaper was used, mostly just as borders.

In 1861 William Morris founded a firm with fellow artists called Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company. They produced furniture, textiles, wallpaper, jewelry and other decorative items. Later, that firm became Morris and Company.

Morris, a socialist, was born to a well-to-do family and attended Marlborough College and University of Oxford. He and the other proponents of the movement felt that the industrial revolution had parted humans from their own creativity and individualism. They wanted to reconnect the workers with beautiful work, honesty in design, lacking mass production. There he met his life-long friend, Edward Jones (a.k.a. Burne-Jones) and became influenced by writer John Ruskin on the social and moral basis of architecture. He went on from there to the Oxford office of the Gothic Revivalist architect G.E. Street and also financed the first 12 issues of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. He loved medieval art and was heavily influenced by Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossettii, who talked him into pursuing painting instead of architecture. He fell in love with and married the model in his painting La Belle Iseuot, Jane Burden, in 1859.

To interior designers, William Morris is best known for his textiles, tapestries, wallpapers, stained glass, carpet designs and furniture. One of his most famous pieces of furniture is the chair named for him…the Morris Chair.

It’s a reclining easy chair with moderately high armrests and detachable cushions on the seat and back. A feature usually found on the Morris Chair was a hinged back, set between two unupholstered arms and a reclining angle adjusted through a row of pegs, holes or notches in each arm. The wood chair is often seen with turned spindles. It is widely reproduced now and has a broad price range, from a few hundred dollars to several thousands.

William Morris’ wallpapers and fabrics created a revolution in wallpaper design and are still very popular today. The great master of pattern-making, Morris mostly designed products for only one form of manufacture, but some of his wallpaper patterns were also offered as fabric. Morris designed more than 50 wallpapers and his firm produced another 49 by other designers. Plant forms are seen in each pattern. Some were shown with luxurious naturalism, as seen in his “Acanthus”, “Pimpernel”, and “Jasmine”. A flatter, more formalized style is found in some of Morris’ other wallpapers, as in “Sunflower”.














"Acanthus", wallpaper, William Morris, 1875. Museum no. E.495-1919














"Sunflower”, by William Morris.

William Morris was also well known for his stained glass and embroideries. The patterns of his stained glass, still seen today in churches throughout Britain, are mostly floral, as are his fabrics and wallpapers.

In addition, Morris was a writer if Icelandic and classical translations. In 1890, he founded the Kelmscott Press at his last home in Hammershmith, England, which is now the headquarters of the William Morris Society. The Kelmscott Press produced sixty-six volumes, most impressively an edition of Chaucer in 1896. He designed three type styles for Kelmscott Press. His “Golden” type was influenced by 15th-century French printer Nicolas Jenson. He also created a gothic “Troy” type and a smaller version of Troy that he called “Chaucer” type.

Morris entered politics in 1876 as treasurer of the Eastern Question Association and continued his radical endeavors in the National Liberal League and the Radical Union. Later, he joined the socialist Democratic Federation and when he disagreed with its leader, he moved on to form the Socialist League and the Hammersmith Socialist Society. Morris was one of the most active proponents of his day for the socialist cause. In 1887, he lead a banned demonstration to London’s Trafalgar Square, alongside playwright George Bernard Shaw, on what was called “Bloody Sunday”, when police and troops there cleared the square of demonstrators.

In 1896 Morris was exhausted and set sail to Norway for some R&R. Nevertheless, he died later that year at his Kelmscott House.

William Morris’ work has passed the test of time. His designs often did not find a market quickly, but they caught on became a mainstay in the U.S. during the early 1900’s and he is today celebrated as a consummate designer and craftsman. Morris’ love of medieval art, his exposure to nature since childhood, and his lifelong insatiable love of reading greatly affected all of his work.

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement , in it’s heyday at the turn of the last century, drew its inspiration from what many Americans are looking for again today….beautiful high quality furniture that is rich in its tone and grain, yet affordable and available to “the people”.

The Arts and Crafts furniture Movement came about in the early 1900’s, as a reaction to the Victorian style of heavily ornamented interiors, cluttered collections of small ornamental objects and fringed cloths. It’s proponents, including William Morris, Gustav Stickley, brothers Greene & Greene, Charles Mackintosh, the Roycroft Community, and Frank Lloyd Wright, sought to reestablish the ties between beautiful work and the worker.

In Britain, this resulted in more attention given toward a heavily detailed gothic style, which was affordable mainly to the upper class there. However, in America, it brought about a completely different reaction. Here, there grew an appreciation of rich wood tones, honesty in design, creativity of the craftsman, This brought the grain and rich tones of wood to the masses. Both rich and the average-income worker could afford this style. Homes were designed here with walls of warm wood tones, much less wallpaper, and earth-toned paints. Machines were being used at a lower cost than they were in Britain and in a way that allowed the individual craftsman to assemble and finish the furniture.

Today, this retroactive desire for good craftsmanship and design is spurring the movement, again. It has been in vogue for at least the last decade, mostly purchased by aficionados of the style, but now is available to many more Americans because its price point has been broadened. For example, check out the Mission Furniture, much of it made by Amish craftsmen, available at Barn Furniture Mart in the Los Angeles area.

Although many more people can afford Arts & Crafts, also known as Mission style, furniture today, the very high end of this movement includes merchandise that uses white oak that is quarter-sawn. If you’re not familiar with quarter-sawn white oak, it’s high prized among aficionados of the Arts and Crafts and Mission styles. Stickley uses it exclusively in their Mission style furniture. Quarter-sawing is a more expensive way of slicing the log. It’s done by cutting the log radially to the growth rings, which produces a vertical, uniform grain pattern that is absolutely stunning. The product of this is also called “tiger oak”. Quarter-sawing uses about 60-70 percent of the log, which reduces the number of boards you get from the log. It also causes the boards to expand and contract less. Quarter-sawn oak is far more stable than plain cut. Before plain cut red oak products became popular here in the 70’s, a large portion of oak furniture here was quarter-sawn. Once you see a quarter-sawn piece of furniture you will recognize it anywhere and it’ll be hard to resist. It basically takes your breath away.

Besides furniture, the Arts & Crafts Movement also included an amazing appreciation for the form of the pot. Pottery designed by the Fulper Pottery Company, Teco Pottery, and the J.A. Bauer Pottery Company offered unique glazes and shapes. Also, lighting fixuters designed by Dirk Van Erp and Louis Comfort Tiffany, who also was one of America’s greatest artisans of glass, contributed greatly to the movement.

Please feel free to use our links below to find out more about any of the Arts & Crafts designers above. You can learn here about upcoming Arts & Crafts events and where to buy Mission style furniture and other items.

The Amish People & Culture

The history of the Amish people can be traced back hundreds of years and unlike most cultures that evolve to adapt to the ever-changing world, the Amish have stayed true to their roots. The Amish religion originated from the Mennonite religion, which encourages nonviolence, nonviolent resistance, and pacifism. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations whose roots began in central Europe. When Swiss-German Mennonite leader, Jacob Amman insisted on the practice of Meidung, which is the strict shunning of excluded members, this brought about a division in the Swiss Mennonite movement in 1693 and led to the establishment of the Amish. Amman felt the Mennonites were drifting away from their beliefs. Nevertheless, the two groups are still very closely related and many times may live right next to each other. Their roots and standards for a simple life and diligent work are very closely aligned and have remained much the same throughout the centuries past.

The Amish separate themselves into as many as eight different orders, but the majority are affiliated with one of five religious orders: Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Andy Weaver Amish, Beachy Amish, and Swartzentruber Amish. Of these groups, the Old Order Amish are the largest group and the Swartzentruber Amish are considered the most conservative.

The Amish follow the Christian faith as any other person of the Christian faith. The Bible is the main study book. The Ordnung, a list of rules dictates all aspects of their life from their way of dress and hair length to buggy style and farming techniques. This list of rules varies from among the different orders and communities. Some of their beliefs do not allow them to pose for photographs because they feel it violates the biblical teaching against making graven images. They also don’t believe in photographs for fear that it will promote self-pride. Many will put their hands or hats over their faces, look away or take evasive action to avoid having their picture taken.

There are approximately 150,000 Amish in North America, with the largest group residing in Ohio and other large populations in Pennsylvania, northern Indiana and Iowa. They are known as the plain people because of the plain colored clothing they wear. As a symbol of their faith, Amish clothing styles encourage humility and disconnection from the world. Their clothing is homemade of plain, dark fabrics. Amish men are not allowed to wear belts, sweaters, neckties and gloves, while Amish women are not allowed patterned clothing or jewelry. The Ordnung of the specific Amish order may also provide other strict orders regarding dress, even dictating the length of a skirt or the width of a seam. The Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch among themselves and live within highly personalized relationships, and avoid anything more than casual contact with strangers. They are happy living without the conveniences of the 21st century such as electricity, cars and telephones.

The Amish are disapproving of technology because they feel it weakens the family structure. Modern conveniences such as television, automobiles, and even tractors are considered to be a temptation that causes vanity, inequality and can create a disbanding of their close-knit communities. Most Amish rely on horse-drawn machinery and get around on horse-drawn buggies. While the Amish aren’t allowed a phone in the home, many still have access to one that is usually kept in a wooden shanty between farms. Electricity is sometimes utilized, usually for the use of electric cattle fences, flashing lights on buggies or heating home. Nevertheless, they rely on windmills as their source of naturally generated electric power. Other modern devices such as disposable diapers and barbecue grills may also be allowed because the Ordnung does not specifically prohibit them.

The Amish do not believe in education beyond the eighth grade because they believe that the knowledge offered up to that point is sufficient to prepare for the Amish lifestyle. Amish schools are usually one-room schoolhouses with young unmarried women from the Amish community as teachers. These schools educate children in many crafts and can be considered vocational education.

Among the crafts that the Amish specialize in, their quilts have become very popular and profitable. Their quilts also reflect the Amish way of life in the way that they mirror their religious philosophy that forbids them from being too “flashy” or “worldly.” Only solid colors are used and sometimes the church may restrict the use of certain colors that are considered too flashy. Like their clothing, quilts usually use a lot of dark colors like black and blue with most of the attention being paid to the stitching forms and patterns.

Among their lasting traditions, their dedication to the production of heirloom quality furniture has remained true. Amish furniture making is mostly known for being constructed from solid wood, using no particle board or laminate, and the great attention paid to the details of the wood. Each piece of wood is hand selected and special attention is paid to the grain. Amish furniture is valued for its heirloom quality that can be passed down and valued by different generations. It first gained attention in the 1920’s when early folk art was becoming popularized.

The techniques used by Amish woodworkers do not require electricity; their tools are hydraulically and pneumatically powered by running on diesel generators. However, the detail and finish are applied by hand, therefore ensuring the finest quality. A common characteristic of Amish furniture is the five-piece English dovetail joints on drawers and steel ball bearing drawer glides. Amish craftsmen acquire their skills from generations before them. Starting early in their life, many Amish dedicate their lives to helping in the family shop where if they are woodworkers, they pick up specific design details.

Among many other styles, the Amish create Mission and Shaker styles. The Mission style features classic, straight lines, exposed joinery and features a clean design; similarly, the Shaker style is very simple and is designed with functionality and durability in mind.

Amish Furniture and Tradition

There are approximately 150,000 Amish in North America, with the largest group residing in Ohio and other large populations in Pennsylvania, northern Indiana and Iowa. They are known as the plain people because of the plain colored clothing they wear. The Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch among themselves and live within highly personalized relationships, and avoid anything more than casual contact with strangers. They are happy living without the conveniences of the 21st century such as electricity, cars and telephones.

The Amish follow the Christian faith as any other person of the Christian faith. The Bible is the main study book. Their beliefs do not allow them to pose for photographs because they feel it violates the biblical teaching against making graven images. They also don't believe in photographs for fear that it will promote self-pride. Many will put their hands or hats over their faces, look away or take evasive action to avoid having their picture taken.

The history of these people can be traced back hundreds of years and unlike most cultures that evolve to adapt to the ever-changing world, the Amish have stayed true to their roots. The Amish religion originated from the Mennonite religion, which encourages nonviolence, nonviolent resistance, and pacifism. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations whose roots began in central Europe. When Swiss-German Mennonite leader, Jacob Amman insisted on the practice of Meidung, which is the strict shunning of excluded members, this brought about a division in the Swiss Mennonite movement in 1693 and led to the establishment of the Amish.

Amman felt the Mennonites were drifting away from their beliefs. Nevertheless, the two groups are still very closely related and the two groups may many times live right next to each other. Their roots and standards for a simple life and diligent work are very closely aligned and have remained much the same throughout the centuries. Among their lasting traditions, their dedication to the production of heirloom quality furniture has remained true.

Amish furniture making is mostly known for being constructed from solid wood, using no particle board or laminate, and the great attention paid to the details of the wood. Each piece of wood is hand selected and special attention is paid to the grain of the wood. Amish furniture is valued for its heirloom quality that can be passed down and valued by different generations. It first gained attention in the 1920's when early folk art was becoming popularized.

The techniques used by Amish woodworkers do not require electricity; their tools are hydraulically and pneumatically powered by running on diesel generators. However, the detail and finish are applied by hand, therefore ensuring the finest quality. A common characteristic of Amish furniture is the five-piece English dovetail joints on drawers and steel ball bearing drawer glides.

Among many other styles, the Amish create Mission and Shaker styles. The Mission style features classic, straight lines, exposed joinery and features a clean design; similarly, the Shaker style is very simple and is designed with functionality and durability in mind.

Amish craftsmen acquire their skills from generations before them. Starting early in their life, many Amish dedicate their lives to helping in the family shop where if they are woodworkers, they pick up specific design details.

Because the Amish don't use the Internet themselves personally or for business, they rely on entrepreneurs that sell the crafts and furniture that the Amish create. Retailers , like Barn Furniture Mart, often attend Amish furniture expositions in middle-America to develop relationships with the Amish craftsmen and then become facilitators between the Amish and the buyer. This makes it possible for people world-wide to enjoy high-quality Amish woodworking.

Why Barn Furniture is better than IKEA

With very humble beginnings, the Barn Furniture Mart and IKEA were founded around the same time. In the mid-1940’s, while 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad ran his mail-order company from his home in Sweden, selling pens, wallets, and eventually furniture at reduced prices; Phil Tuberman, a WWII veteran, took over the “Whitler’s Barn” in California’s then desolate San Fernando Valley where he sold unfinished furniture and bicycles. Basing his company on affordability, Kamprad’s company, now recognized as the over-bearing IKEA chain of outlets, generates products whose quality is reflected by the lowness of prices. The Barn Furniture Mart has remained a family-owned business that remains true to both great quality and affordable prices.

Many people buy furniture to match their personality and make a statement about whom they are. What will the mass-produced styles available at IKEA say about you? IKEA’s generic styles are de-personalizing and reduce their customers down to anonymity. How often do you enter a home and recognize the IKEA furniture? The Barn Furniture Mart offers various timeless styles with a modern approach whose heirloom-quality will stand out in any room.

Quality should be the main reason for purchasing a piece of furniture. It must be sturdy and possess a timeless appeal that can be valued throughout the years. Besides their material use, furniture is often cherished because it is passed down from generation to generation. A heirloom-quality piece can be valued because of its lasting craftsmanship or more sentimentally, because of the tradition it represents. IKEA produces disposable furniture that often must be replaced within a year. Nicked veneers and wobbly joints are common results of owning an IKEA piece. Composites, particleboard and even formaldehyde are all materials used in IKEA’s furnishings. In the past, IKEA has come under attack a couple times for their use of hazardous materials. Before being reprimanded in the late 1980’s, many IKEA products tested positive for illegally high levels of formaldehyde.

After being sued and slapped with a fine, IKEA remedied the situation; until 1992, when IKEA’s popular bookcase, Billy was found to have higher than legal formaldehyde emissions from the veneer used. IKEA was forced to stop the production of this popular item worldwide and cost IKEA and its suppliers millions of dollars to correct. IKEA was also criticized for using Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), which poses unique and major hazards in its manufacture, product life and disposal. However, since then they have phased out of the use of this material, with the exception of electrical cables. All the while IKEA had been dealing with lawsuits and the altering of their methods of production; the Barn Furniture Mart has been dealing with solid wood furniture, many of which are produced here in the United States, following traditional guidelines set by skilled craftsmen.

Most IKEA products are ideal for transporting. Unassembled products are set in flat boxes that can easily be brought home from the store. The assembling of the product is what becomes problematic and often frustrating. Leaving out necessary tools like reliable screwdrivers but including cheap plastic screws to keep costs low makes assembly more difficult and only leads to a poorly assembled product that is already made of faulty material. In addition, to save money, IKEA does not include words in their assembly instructions. With stores in 35 countries, translation of instructions would be too costly! At no extra charge, the Barn Furniture Mart offers all pieces fully-assembled. To ensure that they will not be damaged during transport, friendly employees wrap all items in plastic or blankets and carefully load items into customers’ cars. At an additional charge, customers can have items delivered to their home where they will carefully be placed in their chosen location.

The shopping experience at IKEA also differs greatly from The Barn. While IKEA has carefully laid out their stores so that you need to pass through most of their merchandise to get to where you need to be, the Barn Furniture Mart has areas clearly labeled so you can find what you need with ease. Self-service is necessary through the entire shopping process at IKEA, while at the Barn, there’s helpful salespeople and other staff to help with the loading of your furniture.

IKEA offers trendy home furnishings that keep up with the time, however their customers are forced to shop there often not because of ever-changing styles but to replace their broken units. Their mass-produced inventory leaves very little individuality and even less reliability. With self-service comes inconvenience and at IKEA, self-service is one of their principles. Low prices shouldn’t be an excuse to lack in other very important areas such as customer service. For fully assembled, heirloom-quality furniture at low prices without the expense of good customer service, The Barn Furniture Mart is a trusted company known to uphold these values for over 70 years.

The Craftsman Movement & The Gamble House

At the turn of the century, Southern California gave birth to the Craftsman movement, which quickly spread to the rest of the country through pattern books and popular magazines. It became the dominant style for smaller houses from 1905-1920. In varying forms, it became affordable to almost anyone, from the working man to society’s elite.

Primarily inspired by the architectural works of brothers Charles and Henry Greene, of Pasadena, California, the Craftsman house was a departure from the formal ornamentation of the Victorian. Literally a breath of fresh air, it exuded a oneness with nature, a casual lifestyle, and an air of elegant simplicity for a servantless society.

The Craftsman house seemed to grow out from the land and took its clues from nature. Great sheltering overhangs provided air conditioning, relief in the winter, and psychological sheltering; wall cladding, usually of wood clapboard or shingles; stepping stones that looked like they were left there to stumble upon; and interior designs were reminiscent of the great outdoors.

Although the Greenes were influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style and the elemental forms of H. H. Richardson, they were immensely impressed by the Japanese idea of the functional house. Responsive to adverse laws of nature and rapidly changing family needs, it stressed the relationship of structure and design, subtle proportions and the integration of a building into its natural environment. Aided by these theories, their interest in the English Arts and Crafts movement, and their background in manual arts, the Greenes created the “California Bungalow”.

Their 1908 masterpiece, The Gamble House, in Pasadena, highlighted their utilization of exposed joinery that seems to grow out of the house, post and beam construction, airy verandas and ambulatories, the use of earthy materials, and the close relationship of house and garden. Asymmetric and horizontal, it slices out a picture of natural beauty. The low-pitched, gabled roof, wide eave overhang, exposed roof rafters, triangular braced supports, transomed windows (in 3’s) are typical Craftsman ideals.

The Japanese influence is seen in the relationship of the house to nature, exposed beams, the flair of the chimneys and garage roof, and the stylized Japanese “Cloud Lift” design, seen on doors, windows, lamps, carpets, furniture, picture frames and elsewhere throughout the interior and exterior of the house.

Other motifs adding unity are the “Tree of Life”, the “Oak Leaf”, sets of 3, and the “Crane and Rose” (the Gamble family crest) with the most diligent attention to every detail.

Upon entering and leaving the Gamble House, one is awestruck by the front door. From the outside, a reflection of what appears to be an oak tree vertical behind you. The vertical cloud lifts, sets of three, and Louis Comfort Tiffany glass (up to three glasses thick) are a clue as to what you are about to encounter as you step beyond. They entice you in with a serene, calm, yet exciting look that whets your appetite for more. The horizontal bar below the transom is another motif carried throughout the house on many windows. The bars look like curtain rods, but in fact are there to add unity. This horizontality, also seen in the sweeping broad lines of the house exterior, provides restfulness.

As you look at the door from the inside, the same oak tree, now seen beyond the house, gives a feeling of being a part of nature. The stained glass scene, ever so sensitive to light, changes dramatically as the day wears on.

Impeccable wood joinery is the highlight of the breathtaking interior. Everything is covered. Scarf, lap, and finger joints (mordis and tendon) leave no crevice exposed.

The Japanese-inspired lack of clutter and ornament, and the desire for function are exemplified by the Greene’s extensive use of built-ins. Built-in dining room drawers hold linen and other items. So concerned were the Greenes about unity, that they built in much of the furniture so that whoever lived there would not bring in any unwarranted items that might ruin the ambience.

The themes mentioned above are repeated throughout the room. Sets of three can be seen in the vertical wood pieces just below where the wall meets the ceiling, in the three stained glass windows, the three circular lines on the handing lamp, the clover-shaped wood pieces connecting the lamp to metal straps, the leaded glass cabinet windows, and in the number of tiles on each side of the fireplace. The cloud lift was placed on leaded glass cabinet doors, the stained glass windows, and all three of the lamps.

Like the front door, the window carries on it the “tree of life” motif and changes colors throughout the day so those living there can look forward to and enjoy every nuance of light.

The mahogany table is suba shaped, as is the chandelier. All the furniture in the house was either designed by the Greenes or Gustav Stickley. The fabric covered walls are painted over. The carpets were brought in to add color.

The fireplace uses groovy tile with an inlay of Tiffany glass in a vine pattern that matches the Tiffany glass in the bowl on the table. The vine pattern of the Tiffany glass ties in with the stained glass windows. Everything fits together like clockwork.

If you're interested in discovering more about the architects Greene & Greene or about the Gamble House you can visit: http://www.gamblehouse.org/

If you're interested in viewing beautiful reproductions of Greene & Greene furniture you can visit our sister site at: Barn Furniture Mart

History of The Barn

The history of Barn Furniture Mart, Inc. begins with a store called the “Whittler’s Barn.” This wooden barn had served as an unfinished furniture store that catered to local farmers and had been in existence since 1890. The “Whittler’s Barn” once stood at The Barn Furniture Mart’s current location on Sepulveda Boulevard near the Victory Boulevard intersection.

Across the country, future Barn Furniture Mart owner, Phil Tuberman worked in the bicycle business at the age of fifteen. It was the Depression of the 1920’s that gave this young man the opportunity to run a bicycle business of his own, when his former boss offered him a store. Phil Tuberman ran “Phil’s Bike Shop” in New York along with his two older brothers, Frank and Harry.

After all three brothers served in WWII, only two survived. Phil and Harry lost their brother, Frank while he served in France. The two surviving brothers decided to move to sunny California, with no money and their bike shop failing.

On his way to California, Phil played a lucky hand of poker that won him $8,000. When he got to Los Angeles, he kept hearing about the developing San Fernando Valley. He ventured through the desolate valley in 1945 and came across the “Whittler’s Barn” and managed to buy the store, property and merchandise with his $8,000.

He used his previous experience as a bicycle shop owner and former connections to create “The Barn Furniture and Cycle Mart,” where he sold bicycles that he got from India, and unfinished furniture. However, by 1949, The Barn Furniture Mart stopped selling bicycles and sold only furniture.
Phil Tuberman also decided to start a family around this time. He married and had two children, Andrea and Leon Tuberman.

By 1955, The Barn Furniture Mart began selling patio furniture in addition to the unfinished furniture. It was a true family business with Millie, Andrea, and Leon all having responsibilities within Phil’s business.

Tragedy struck the Tubermans when Phil was involved in a traffic accident and spent the following three years in the hospital. Millie and Leon, then 15-years-old, took control of the business.

In 1971, The Barn Furniture Mart evolved yet again when Leon decided that the furniture being sold should be finished, taking the burden of the hard work off the customers. 1972 brought solid oak toilet seats that became extremely popular and ball & claw tables that continue to sell successfully. A major innovation came in 1978, when Leon achieved major success by creating butcher-block tables that were made out of solid maple.

In 1984, the Tuberman family grew with Leon getting married and starting a family of his own, but also lost an important member of the family. Phil Tuberman passed away the same year.

By 1996, The Barn Furniture Mart had expanded to seven stores spread out throughout Southern California. While there were several benefits to having so many locations, the comfort and ingenuity of having the one major, family-owned business that began The Barn’s success was missed. The original store and all the sentiment that came with it prevailed, and all the other stores were consolidated.

By 1995, Barn Furniture Mart began catering to their online customers through Internet sales. Now, customers can buy the unique pieces that set The Barn Furniture Mart apart nationwide. With the website being up since 1986, The Barn has shown to be aggressive with its use of technology.

In the future, The Barn will continue in the direction that has led the way thus far. By servicing customers and friends for over three generations, word of mouth will continue to be the corner stone of the store’s advertising. The excellent quality, value and service will keep bringing in new customers as well.