Stanley Furniture was founded in 1924 by Thomas B. Stanley, a Bassett executive and J.D. Bassett's son-in-law, in what became Stanleytown, Virginia. It made wood bedroom, dining and living room furniture for the middle and upper-middle market, and its mid-century pieces are often marked 'Distinctive Furniture by Stanley'.
Thomas Bahnson Stanley leaves Bassett Furniture and founds Stanley Furniture in Henry County, Virginia, building about a hundred houses for workers in what becomes Stanleytown.[1]–[3][7]
The first Stanley collection, a dining room suite, is introduced.[1]–[3]
After the stock market crash, employees accept pay cuts so the plant can keep running.[1][2][7]
Stanley completes a $4 million expansion and modernisation of its plant.[1]–[3]
The Mead Corporation buys Stanley; after a series of leveraged buyouts it is independent again by the late 1980s.[1]–[3]
Stanley buys Basic-Witz Furniture of Waynesboro, Virginia.[8][9]
Stanley briefly makes upholstered furniture, starting with a Norman Rockwell themed collection, then returns to wood furniture only.[1]–[3]
Manufacturing ends at the original Stanleytown plant, and Stanley-brand furniture is imported from Southeast Asia while Young America stays in North Carolina.[3][15]
The company sells substantially all of its assets; the Stanley and Young America names have since belonged to other owners.[2][3]
Nothing by Stanley is in the studio right now. Tell Kate what you need and she will look for one.
Stanley made wood residential furniture: bedroom, dining room and living room case goods, and later home office and entertainment furniture. Its founding aim was well-made furniture at a price an ordinary family could afford. By the 1990s the company placed itself in the upper-medium price range, and by 2010 it described its market as premium.
In the 1950s and 1960s Stanley produced a large range of modern case goods, the pieces most often found today. In 2013 and 2014 Stanley's own staff bought back and restored about sixty of them, and its creative head said the vintage pieces used thicker veneers and more wood than later furniture.
Stanley's creative head called a line with large, flat spade-shaped pulls and white lacquered drawer fronts its best-known vintage design; its official name is not known because Stanley's drawings and catalogues for it were lost in an office fire in the 1990s.[13]
Vintage Stanley collections named among the pieces Stanley restored and reissued in 2013 and 2014, from chests and triple dressers to buffets, china cabinets and Mix 'n Match seating.[13][14]
Not new designs: about sixty original 1950s and 1960s Stanley pieces that the company found, restored and sold, each with a certificate of authenticity and scans from the original catalogue. About a third were refinished in new period-style colours rather than the factory finish.[13][14]
Stanley's line of children's and youth bedroom furniture, made in its last years at Robbinsville, North Carolina.[1][3][15]
Upholstered furniture themed on Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers, Stanley's first move into upholstery.[1]–[3]
$130 to $950
Thomas Bahnson Stanley married into the Bassett family and was an executive at Bassett Furniture until 1924, when he left to start his own furniture company in Henry County, Virginia. Beside the factory he built about a hundred houses for workers, and the settlement became Stanleytown. The first Stanley collection came out in 1925. When the Depression hit, employees accepted pay cuts so the plant could keep running. From the start the aim was well-made furniture at prices ordinary families could afford. Stanley later went into politics and served as Governor of Virginia from 1954 to 1958. The Mead Corporation bought the company in 1969, and in the 1970s Stanley bought Basic-Witz Furniture of Waynesboro, Virginia. In 2018 the original company sold substantially all of its assets, and the Stanley name has since belonged to other owners.[1]–[12]
The brand is, but not the original manufacturer. The company stopped making furniture at Stanleytown in 2010, sold substantially all its assets in 2018, and the Stanley and Young America names now belong to a different owner.[2][3][15]
Yes, by family. Thomas B. Stanley married J.D. Bassett's daughter and worked as a Bassett executive before founding Stanley in 1924, and J.D. Bassett backed several relatives' furniture companies. Stanley was always a separate company.[4][5][16]
Stanley aimed from the start at well-made furniture at moderate prices and later sold in the upper-medium range. The company itself thought enough of its 1950s and 1960s pieces to restore and resell them in 2013 and 2014, saying they used thicker veneers than later furniture.[1][7][13][14]
It is the stamp Stanley used inside drawers on many mid-century pieces, not a separate company. Listings often use it as the maker's name.[10]–[12]
Looking for a piece by Stanley? Tell Kate what you need, with the size and budget you have in mind, and she will look for one. Or write to hello@formanashville.com.
New pieces go out first in the weekly letter.
One email a week, on Thursday. What arrived, what sold and for how much, and a line or two on what we are working on.