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Douglas Land Master Cabinetry and Herbert Hoover? What's the connection?

Well, it seems that during his presidency, President and Mrs. Hoover had a week-end get-a-way in the Shenandoah area. Only 50 miles from Washington but a million miles from the hubbub.   In those days it was called Camp Rapidan. Today it's known as Camp Hoover. A homey little place unknown to most people nestled in the deep woods of The Shenandoah National Park.

Although the house and most of the furnishings withstood the test of time, when the National Park Service decided to re-open the camp as a park attraction, some pieces of furniture were missing. As can be imagined, there seemed to be a camera around the president all the time so there exists plenty of photos of how the home looked at that time. The picture above is a recent photo of this room taken from the same vantage point as one taken in the 1930s by a black and white camera (see below). However, the two wooden chairs at the table as depicted in the old black and white had long been missing when the decision was made to restore the site to it's original condition.

Most, if not all, of the furnishings were handmade by local craftsmen who were somewhat abundant in the 1920s and 30s but are practically non-existant nowadays. Faced with this fact, the curator for the National Park Service went about finding a shop that still produces hand crafted, one of a kind pieces. Needless to say, we were the needle in that haystack. With only the picture at left, we reproduced the two chairs and they are now on display as seen in the top picture

For more information on "Camp Hoover" along with more 1930s era photos visit this National Parks  page.

Douglas Land Master Cabinetry 1100-e National Highway Thomasville, North Carolina 27360 336 847 0914 We're building heirlooms for the 22nd century.®