It all started in the small North Georgia town of Clarkesville. It was 1969 and Habersham founder Joyce Eddy had just been given the chance to operate a small antique shop located above an old laundromat. This was just the opportunity a woman of Joyce’s vision and energy would turn into the perfect blend of utility artistry and soul. Looking for ways to make her antique business more profitable she began crafting small decorative purses from vintage wooden cigar boxes. They were totally unique and they were an instant hit. Joyce named her new venture Habersham Plantation after Georgia’s Habersham County and the plantations for which the area was known. The ideas just kept coming. One day Joyce was driving by a local textile company and spotted a large pile of old discarded wooden spools. Those spools were soon crafted into candleholders towel racks and folk art items. With the help of her sons and other family members Joyce expanded Habersham’s offerings to include handcrafted furniture reflecting the American Country designs of the early 17th and 18th centuries. As word spread and production demands grew Joyce enlisted the help of woodworkers from her North Georgia region. This area had been a center for cabinetmaking since the early 1800s and the master craftsmen were well-schooled in the time-tested woodworking and joinery techniques that matched Joyce’s sense of style and function. She even designed her factory to work just as the 18th century cabinetmakers did with individual artisans hand-finishing signing and dating each piece of furniture they crafted. Today Habersham still leads the way in the fine art of furniture design. So much so that in addition to their product line a new “whole home” concept is finding its way into some of the finest dwellings in the country. Custom kitchen bath and other cabinetry designs offer rich opulent finishes and blend seamlessly with rooms of casual elegance all enhancing today’s gracious lifestyle.