Old Hickory Furniture

Historic photo of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone

Even though the house is not ready for furniture, it is part of the overall look and feel of the project and I knew from the beginning that our vision of a Colorado cabin would include rustic furniture and trim. I love to shop for used materials and furniture is no exception. But I know that you can’t wait until you NEED an item to acquire it, you have to plan ahead or buy new stuff. So I have been on the lookout since we bought the house for items that fit the “vision” or will direct it.

We fell in love with Old Hickory when we first visited the lodge at Yellowstone National Park. The use of natural wood with the bark showing is amazing there. If you stay in the older part of the inn and look down from the balcony, you feel as though you are in a forest of branches. It is amazing. The Inn was originally furnished with Old Hickory furniture when it was made in Martinsville, Indiana. The location of the factory has changed, but they still use hickory with the bark on for the legs and arms of tables, chairs, couches, desks, etc. In Brown County, Indiana there are some artisans who also build furniture with the local hickory wood. There are other sources of this type of furniture but Indiana is the main production state.

I purchased a full set of Old Hickory and had it shipped from the University of Washington surplus center to start the collection. Although I already had one table purchased many years ago at an Indiana auction and a TV cabinet we bought on clearance for our house in Arizona. The set was a fortunate Google find, just looking around. Someone had purchased it at one of their auctions and had not claimed it so it was sold so reasonably that I was able to pay for a shipping container to bring it all the way to Colorado. Then I found a local ad in the Denver area for chairs and a few decorative items too. I’m still on the lookout for a few more pieces.