Winchendon Furniture Company
Since the early 1700’s, the Winchendon-Gardner, Massachusetts area has attracted wood workers from around the world. They became famous worldwide for crafting and manufacturing many of the world’s finest home furnishings and have left a legacy of excellence and quality workmanship. Many of the distinctive pieces they have made have been passed down from generation to generation.
Richard E. Ladeau founded today’s Winchendon Furniture in 1939, as Winchendon Custom Upholstery Company, Inc. He developed his skill as an upholsterer while working for his father, George J. Ladeau, at a local furniture manufacturing company upholstering dining room chair seats. When the company needed more space for the upholstery division, Richard rented a small corner in the Winchendon Fashions Building and opened his own company. As his reputation for quality work grew, he established a relationship with prominent, local, independent decorators Arnold Seal in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, and Bowler, Jones and Page in Keene, New Hampshire. Many of their customers had fine antiques that needed re-upholstering and restoration. Consequently, Richard learned to repair and restore their beautiful furnishings and eventually hired skilled craftsmen to keep up with the demand.
As the years passed, it became more difficult to find skilled craftsmen, and the company decided to offer quality brand name furniture, rather than manufacture and restore existing pieces. During the next thirty years, the company made a gradual and complete transition into retail. As a result of this transition, Winchendon Furniture’s space needs grew progressively. We have expanded from a tiny corner of the Winchendon Fashions Building, which is now our warehouse, to the main showroom in Winchendon, Massachusetts.
In 1980, we increased the selection in Winchendon by opening a large showroom in the warehouse building. At that time, we also opened a second store in Amherst, New Hampshire. In 1999, we expanded and renovated the Amherst store to include more showroom space, as well as a new design center. In 2014, we opened our first location in Keene, NH in the Colony Mill building. After several years we had the good fortune to be able to re-locate the Keene showroom to it’s current location at 20 Main St in Keene. Sadly in June of 2019, we closed the Amherst location to concentrate our efforts in Keene, NH and Winchendon.
Since his death in 1972, Richard Ladeau’s sons, Jack and Joe, have been carrying on the family tradition. They have been joined by a third generation, Richard’s grandsons: Keith and Ryan. This continuity in family management has allowed the company to grow to its present stage through new visions by family members and loyal employees. We believe quality and craftsmanship can best be fostered in the intimacy of a small, personal, family company.
Through the years, Winchendon Furniture has maintained a commitment to excellence and value for the successive generations of families we have served. Our customers have an appreciation for fine workmanship for a reasonable price and have returned again and again with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We are thankful for their devotion to our tradition of quality.
