Henkel Harris, E.J. Victor, Craftique, Statton, Henredon, Waterford, Maitland Smith, Karges, Stickley, and Heritage.

In my opinion, the best furniture is from Henkel Harris.

I would chose Stickley or Kittinger furniture (especially pre 1980) over Baker (actually, I'd never chose Baker).

What style are you looking for?

Henkel-Harris is not surpassed except by custom-made, but if you don't like their style, forget it. Their products are ultra-traditional. Their factory is 25 miles from me, I wonder if they give tours?
Casey

Henkel Harris does tours!! Link below. Scroll to image on bottom right and click.

Here is a link that might be useful: Henkel Harris Tour

john wc, I was hoping you would give your opinion when I posted a question on the quality of Jeffco furniture -- I am considering buying one of their beds.

I value your opinion, though I must say that I disagree with you on Century Furniture because I have a bombe dresser from their Claridge collection that I think is wonderful and gives me a thrill every time I look at it. I also have a commode from their Caspian collection that has gotten more 'oohs' and 'ahs' than I can count.

Henkel Harris!

I think I am in LOVE.

I am not that familiar with Jeffco. Sorry.

We agree that Century makes excellent furniture. I regard Century as a upper middle brand. Its cost is more high end ergo my previous comment that it does not represent a good buy. But, as I have said before, it is just my opinion.

No need to be snotty Jake...

I reread my posts and failed to see where I stated that HW is a small family owned company. I am fully aware that Buddy Sherrill bought them.

Don't buy Henredon. I have purchased three rooms of this junk, thinking I was getting great stuff. It's back to antiques for me!

Sleeperblues,
Henredon has different quality levels. You may have purchased pieces from the lower ranks. Do you recall the "line" that it was from?

Century has these different quality tiers too so keep that in mind when purchasing.

Henkle Harris is my favorite. We recently purchased several pieces from them and we just love them. Truly exceptional. They use vanilla in their varnish and it makes your room smell great. This is heirloom quality antique reproduction furniture. My boys' future wives will be fighting over this stuff when we're gone, and for now I feel like I'm sleeping in the White House and my new dining room could be a museum! I'm shopping for more HH very soon.

Henredon does have multiple levels of quality within their brand. That being said, their highest level would still generally be considered below the level of Karges, Henkel Harris, EJ Victor and Kindel. Some of those brands have multiple levels within their lines as well, but we're generally talking from stunning to breathtaking (in quality and price).

The same poster placed an identical post on the Home Decorating forum several months ago. The answers have not changed. And again, Baker is good furniture but not top of the line by far.

Thank you everyone! I was finally able to get to NC and see many of the brands you mentioned. The one I did not get to was EJ Victor. Baker finishes on some diningroom chairs I looked at left much to be desired, especially considering the price they were. However, their upholstered pieces seemed lovely.

Don't Forget Marge Carson, Alfonso-Marina, Colombo, Smith&Watson and Roche Bobois.

We have mostly Henkel Harris... but I do love Kittenger... especially the older pieces, and the older Baker pieces were very well done

Baker is one of the best manufactured furniture brands. Henkel Harris is nice, but not the same "design" level. If you truly want the best of the best, then you want Karges or Kindel. Both are hand made by master craftsmen here in the United States. Their price tags match the quality, so if you are a little more price driven, then you should stick with Baker.

We bought the barbara Barry dining room set from Baker and love it. Its fabulous to look at and we admire it daily. In Canada - there is a high end store that sells knock-offs, so I feel the Baker line though pricey is good quality. As for Henredon, some of their stuff is good - we have a Henredon Aston Court dresser that is also great. But the Barbara Barry stuff by Henredon seems low quality and our end tables are stamped Phillipines on them.

Jake,
Not sure what you meant about milling road. Did they stop makeing it. I bought some of this about 3 years ago.

Belmar uses high-end materials and makes the most comfortable and durable furniture. They build their upholstery from the ground up the old fashion way. Hand tied-coil springs, down, the works. I've heard that with the tightening economy many other manufactures who used to have a good reputation for quality, have been cutting corners big time and started using low quality materials in their fabrication process. I don't think Belmar has done that. I have their pieces in my home and just love them.

My favorites are Bausman and Woodland. Both are benchmade, and are very fine. They have each started to introduce more contemporary collections which is unfortunate, in my opinion. But the quality remains outstanding, especially interns of their finishes and Woodland is still keeping a strong foothold in its classic, country and period styles in addition to contemporary pieces..

I like Councill and Karges which are now part of Kindel. Not american made but I like Francisco Molon... if I had the house to go along with the style.

Harden is a great line...Many of the Amish lines out of Indiana and Ohio are great, too... many are very small shops that offer a great value and great quality!

Thanks for the above review

Do anyone know how scottthomas furniture fits in this tier of furniture brands?

Also how is the quality of mainland smith

Maitland smith

I have a couple of pieces of Harden, and agree that it is very well made. Mine are also beautiful.

Harden is made in new York state, very limited on style but beautiful and well made

Hi folks. Haven't seen any mention of Hickory Chair in this thread. What is your opinion of HC relative to Baker of today, EJ Victor and other high end brands? Thanks much.

Hickory chair is very nice. Vintage baker is better than current baker which I believe is owned by Kohler. EJ Victor is still nice though very traditional. There are so many high end trade brands out there now that are to the trade only. It all really depends on the style you are looking for.

I just purchased a Century Sofa and now see remarks on Houzzthat the Ltd line is not Century's "quality" line. Looking at the information about the sofa I received from the store where I purchased it, I see Ltd as part of the style #, did not know I purchased a Ltd line (Cornerstone). I spent $4k for this and now doubting that I will receive the Century sofa quality I was looking for. Purchased from an upscale furniture store in our area. My dilemma...should I cancel order and start over. AGH! I have spent so much of my time looking on Houzz posts learning about quality sofas and then researching fabrics! Fabric content options are very limited when you also look for a color you want and keeping the prince point at mid. I had a Lee sofa for 13 years (purchased using a designer) and for the last 4 years the cushions were so uncomfortable we could not sit on it without back paid. Also inside the hand tied seemed to have broken. We are a family of 4 and not large. The fabric looked great! I was thinking that a Century sofa would be a step up in quality over the Lee, now feeling I have purchased a 2nd tier for a 1st tier price. l would appreciate a pros opinion. Thank you so much!

I purchased a Century Leatherstone sofa. It was delivered only a couple weeks ago, so I can't speak to its durability. So far, we are happy with it. I liked that I was able to customize the style, cushions, and leather. Also, the cost was reasonable. A similar Baker sofa in leather would have been more than double the cost.

We sell a lot of Century upholstery & it is rare to have customer service issues with it.

Thank you for your responses. I decided to go with the Century Ltd sofa. I was able to decide on all style options - arm, back cushion, leg, etc. Looking forward to delivery day.

The Cornerstone sectional is a popular request with us.

I purchased Kindel chair and ottoman for $3,500.00 and it was trash. But I love my Theodore Alexander chairs. I have a Henkel Harris coffee table and it is to die for but my dining room server has a plastic stapled on exterior . Wayne Kramer made a beautiful corner hutch for me and that is out of this world. I have a Pearson sofa and a vanguard sofa , Harden chairs in my dining room and after reading this I would not touch Century. If they have different levels I wouldn't touch them but believe me when I tell you Kindel furniture is junk.

We just bought some of the new Kara Mann pieces for Baker's Milling Road line and I love the more modern edgy look of that collection vs. the standard Baker. The price point is lower as well. I also have two pieces from Century Furniture that I really like, both by Oscar de la Renta, so I'm assuming it is their higher end line.

We have two Ralph Lauren pieces and one is a mahogany dresser whose finish appears scratched? No idea why or what to do about this (this is the high end Ralph Lauren line). Another table that I got at auction from that line looks great, although I find the retail pricing outrageous.

Kindel is not junk, you don't know what you are talking about, the best furniture made anywhere.

Frankly, for case goods, once you are going high-end you might as well go with a custom wood furniture maker. I've done that several times and obtained gorgeous, well-made (and American-made) pieces styled just as I wanted them and didn't spend as much as I would have had I bought the same kind of pieces from a high-end furniture maker. For example, John Landis Cabinetworks made my dining room table, chairs, and side piece and I was able to slightly shorten the distance between the seat of the chair and the top of table - and double the batting in the seat cushions - in order to address being short-waisted and not wanting to feel like I need to sit on a telephone book when I am at my own dining room table. If you want to see what was made for me go here http://www.johnlandiscabinetworks.com/diningroom.shtml and look under Brigham - the website shuffles through the pictures - when you click on cabinetry, I think mine is the second one - a cherry piece with slightly curved legs and no hutch (these pictures were taken when just built so pieces have darkened) and the table (plus one chair) is the third trestle table that scrolls through when you click on dining tables. This was the first trestle table he made and he used to have it named after me! But no more. Anyway, the furniture is gorgeous, very well-made, unbelievably comfortable (those chairs are what sold me - great, great, great lumbar support - I can never get my guests to leave!) and not as expensive as the "retail" prices on the website suggest.

Irvine 2, we just sent back a century Bateman sectional and PAID $1,600 for the store to take it back! We sat on the sofa in a different city and tho our store sold century, it didn’t sell this model. Spring down cushions... omg, THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE THING EVER!! After 5 min. It felt like we were sitting on springs, or cement! Our behinds HURT!! Such a waste of time energy and money. About ready to purchase Baker. I like that it comes comfortable- you don’t have to choose your seat cushions!

I have a Bausman dining room table, chairs, and hutch that I purchased in 1997. It is perfection. It does not look dated and whenever someone comes into my home they marvel at the beauty of it and the fact that it looks like it just came off of a showroom floor. It is truly a family keeper. The hutch is so beautiful the back of it is finished. It can be used as a room divider, but I do not do that.

Maitland Smith, Theodore Alexander, Carol Hicks Bolton, Hinkle Harris, TRS, John Hancock, Kargas, Jeffco is my all time favorite and of course Baker for sure!