Many people consider Henredon to be one of the best of high end vintage furniture companies out there! Beautiful traditional styles, high end materials, and swanky designer lines make Henredon Furniture a great choice for any home.
Certainly, the brand represents luxury furniture for most. In fact, in its heyday, Henredon ranks with Drexel Furniture. While maybe not as expensive or fine as Stickley or Baker, Henredon still has a great reputation.
Is Henredon Out of Business?
At this point, is Henredon Out of Business? Many ask this question because they are so familiar with the beautiful vintage furniture made by Henredon in decades past. Well, sadly Henredon Furniture is no longer in business. Like so many high end furniture companies, Henredon’s name and assets were sold several times.
Who Owns Henredon Now?
Most recently, in the last quarter of 2018, Heritage Home Group, which was the parent company of several brands including Henredon, Thomasville and Drexel Furniture, declared bankruptcy. So, currently no parent group owns Henredon Furniture. Thus, the parent company currently is still looking for a buyer for several iconic American Furniture brands, including Henredon.
As of the writing of this article (updated 2022), the future of these incredible brands is up in the air… A visit to Henredon’s Website reveals a mostly blank page with no mention of products, and just a “Coming Soon” message. So, obviously, no company has developed the brand’s name or relaunched the company.
Sadly, many manufacturers have faced this exact same fate in recent years, including Harden Furniture, Pennsylvania House and Statton Furniture.
But, without dwelling too much on this fact, let’s remember the good times and explore the incredible story of Henredon Furniture!
Is Henredon Furniture Made in China?
Unfortunately, in the latter years of Henredon’s history, some of their furniture parts and pieces were made in China. However, before the year 2000, all of Henredon’s furniture was made in the United States.
All Vintage Henredon Furniture is not from China, however. In fact, nearly all of the vintage Henredon Furniture was made in America. In the last decade or two, many furniture manufacturers faced tough choices: produce in America, or follow the pack and produce goods for much less labor costs overseas.
To be frank, as trade deals with China opened up, most American Furniture companies switched to foreign manufacturing. In a race to compete on lower retail price, many companies ended up producing much of their product in China and Asian countries.
In fact, Henredon produced much of its product line overseas in the 2000’s, with much of it composed of Chinese parts.
Once a premium, Made in America Brand, Henredon went the way of most furniture brands. Indeed, they traded on their established name, and produced furniture overseas. Yes, in the last leg of the company’s history, sadly, most of Henredon Furniture products were imported from China.
However, vintage Henredon Co Furniture prior to 2000 was made in America. Of course, most vintage Henredon Furniture was composed of high grade solid hardwoods and beautiful veneers. So, let’s explore some of the highlights of this company.
Is Henredon Furniture Good Quality?
When Henredon Furniture Company manufactured the bulk of their furniture in the United States (prior to 2000), the quality of their products was very good.
In fact, you could count on Henredon Furniture using high end raw materials, like walnut, mahogany, and solid oak. Additionally, they used solid brass hardware. Finally, construction in Henredon Furniture reined supreme. You always found dovetailed joints in Henredon Drawers and beautiful detailing.
Finally, in the old days, Henredon Furniture used an incredible finishing process. The finishing department did several coats and layers of stain, finish lacquers and hand-buffing to produce their exquisite and durable finishes.
Additionally, the Henredon upholstery department used hardwood frames, and high density foams. Like many fine furniture companies, they also incorporated hand-tied springs in their chairs and sofas. Also, the upholstery tacks and piping were all done by hand.
So, yes, in the glory days of Henredon Furniture, the quality surpassed many other furniture brands on the market.
What Happened to Henredon Furniture? A Brief History
Henredon Furniture Company had a long and successful history. In many ways, Henredon Furniture Company took a firm grip on the high end luxury furniture market, while still offering a competitive price point. Essentially, though, as the world changed, the later years of the 1990s and 2000s saw the company fail to compete with cheaper imports.
Firstly, Henredon Furniture Company History started during the post-war boom in America. In 1945, four men strung together letters in their names to create the word “Henredon” and set up shop in Morganton, North Carolina.
As many of you probably know, North Carolina, especially the towns of Hickory and High Point developed into a sort of furniture mecca for the United States. So Henredon took advantage of this proximity with their Morganton, NC workshops.
Of course, these four businessmen focused on quality craftsmanship and a narrow offering to start. In fact, only three designs were offered in that first year.
However, by the 1950’s and 1960’s Henredon Catalogs offered a diverse range of products and styles.
Henredon Advertisements from this era stressed the blending of traditional and modern styles. In fact, one ad from 1953 stated, “From our time… yet timeless!” As Mid Century Modern Furniture design took the world by storm, Henredon walked the tightrope between cool and traditional.
In fact, Henredon adopted the name “Heritage Henredon” in the 1950’s in order to better stress this blending of styles and to signify their cross licensing deal with Heritage Furniture.
Identifying Heritage Henredon Furniture
Heritage Henredon Furniture typically has the “HH” letter markings on the inside of the top drawers. Obviously, this is one of the best ways to identify Heritage Henredon Furniture.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Heritage Henredon developed some unique furniture offerings for the time. Blending unique styles, Heritage Henredon appealed to a wide range of customers.
In fact, during these decades, you will find French Provincial style Furniture, Mid Century Modern style Furniture, and Traditional Furniture. So for instance, you might see an 18th Century Chippendale side table coupled with a more French Provincial or Mid Century Modern chair in their catalogs.
Of course, this cross marketing approach catapulted Heritage Henredon Furniture into America’s homes across the country. The furniture was accessible and beautiful to many different demographics. And the multiple styles helped people as they sought to decorate their ranches, and traditional colonial homes.
Henredon Heritage also had another great trait going for it. They insisted on using fine hardwoods and veneers, hardwood inside upholstered goods, and overall fine craftsmanship.
In fact, the words “Fine Furniture” is often coupled with the makers mark inside the drawers from this period. (The words “Fine Furniture” were dropped later in the 1970’s, so this is one great method to date a piece of Henredon Furniture.)
Henredon Furniture Styles
Henredon Vintage Furniture Styles have varied throughout the years. Often, Henredon stamped the inside of their drawers with the collection name. You may find Henredon Furniture Collections of several different lines including:
- One line called, Henredon Four Century
- A Traditional grouping, entitled Henredon Circa 76
- 18th Century designs, Henredon Folio Four
- Henredon Aston Court (my personal favorite line!)
- A design collaboration called, Heritage Henredon
- And finally, Henredon Scene Two, Three, Four, Five and Six
Certainly, this list in no way captures the diverse number of Henredon Furniture Collections out there on the market today. However, these mentioned above represent some of the most valuable Henredon Furniture you can find.
Henredon Furniture Appraisals
Obviously, Henredon Furniture values can be tricky to pin down and ever changing. Of course, style, rarity and condition of any one piece typically determines the value of any Henredon Furniture piece.
It often helps when trying to find the worth of Henredon vintage Furniture to look for comparable pieces. On our vintage furniture guide, you can get up-to-date information regarding Henredon available on the market today.
Of course, a fine Ashton Court Henredon dresser could sell for anywhere between $600 and $1500. Likewise, a Henredon Folio dining room set could see values of $800 to $2400. Finally, a Henredon secretary desk could sell anywhere between $600 and $1500. Again, condition and style do matter greatly in pricing Henredon furniture.
So, there you have it, our guide on Henredon furniture! We hope that you enjoyed learning about this great furniture brand and consider a piece of vintage Henredon for your home.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us. We aim to help people make informed decisions regarding vintage furniture.
What Wood is it Made out of?
For the most part, Henredon used fine woods like Walnut, cherry wood oak and mahogany for the frames of their pieces. Also, you may find that the piece has decorative mahogany or burl walnut veneers. Certainly, these extra flourishes made Henredon Furniture pricey and beautiful.
That said, we have also seen vintage Henredon Furniture made of solid cherry and solid oak. Frankly, many American consumers were used to solid wood furniture. Additionally, pressed woods and faux woods were not really widely used until the 1950s.
Unlike todays furniture coming from manufacturers, Henredon used the luxurious hardwoods during most of its history.
Henredon Furniture For Sale
Henredon company furniture started in Morganton, North Carolina in 1945. The first product line from Henredon started with only three different chests. Since that time, Henredon made multiple designs of furniture for the bedroom, dining room and living room.
Make sure you check out our Henredon video to learn even more about this company. Henredon Furniture: Is it Valuable?