High-end manufacturer Harden Furniture says it will introduce a Mount Vernon collection this fall, a licensed line that will bring together the home of the nation's first president and its oldest furniture producer.
"It's only appropriate that Harden's first historic license is with the first president's home," said Harden CEO Greg Harden. "Harden is honored to bring a 21st century spin on classic furniture."
The license is with the Mount Vernon Ladies' Assn., the private nonprofit organization founded in 1853 to preserve George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. The association also continues to have a license with Durham Furniture, but the Harden products will be at higher price points, according to Beverly Addington, Mount Vernon's director of licensing.
Harden said its line will include items based on the furnishings that are part of the estate, along with adaptations and pieces inspired by Washington's life. It will include upholstery, dining room, bedroom and occasional.
A press release said that "celebrating Washington's fascination with innovation," the product line will combine familiar forms with new functions, and mix materials and components in a way that reflects Mount Vernon.
In announcing the license, the company noted its own history. It was at the time of the Revolutionary War that the Harden family arrived in the upstate New York wilderness. The earliest forerunner of today's Harden Furniture was a sawmill that provided construction material for the Erie Canal in 1807.
"Mount Vernon is pleased to partner with America's oldest furniture manufacturer," said Addington. "These two American establishments together will create a fine furniture line fitting for the first president."
