In 1895 he traveled to Europe for the first time and a transformation began. By 1898 he had his own furniture business, The Gustave Stickley Company, in the Eastwood suburb of Syracuse, New York. That same year he married Eda Ann Simmons and a year later the brothers moved their operations to Binghamton, New York.
In 1883 he and his brothers Albert and Charles founded the Stickley Brothers Company in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He moved with his mother and some of his siblings to Brandt, Pennsylvania about 1875, and began working at an uncle’s chair factory, where he soon rose to manage it. By the age of 12, young Gustave was employed as a stonemason helping to support the large family. When his parents separated in 1869 his formal education ended at sixth grade and he began training as a stonemason. Originally named Gustave Stickley, he dropped the “e” from his name around 1903. Gustav Stickley, the eldest son of first generation German immigrants Barbara and Leopold Stoeckel, was born Main Osceola, Wisconsin. It was been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Today, Craftsman Farms consists of 30 acres located in and owned by and located in the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. When the property was threatened with development for 52 town houses, the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills obtained the property through eminent domain and formed a partnership with the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, formerly The Craftsman Farms Foundation, Inc., which was entrusted with the preservation, interpretation and daily operation of the site. In the intervening years they also sold some of the property, but maintained the core area. After Stickley left Craftsman Farms, the Farny family maintained the farm in Stickley’s tradition, adapting certain interior features for modern family life. In 1917, Major George and Sylvia Wurlitzer Farny purchased the property in the bankruptcy sale and their descendants lived on or owned the property until 1989. By then the taste of the American people that 15 years earlier had embraced the clean, strong lines of Craftsman furniture changed once again, this time towards the revival of early American and other styles. But Gustav Stickley made a lasting impression on American decorative arts. Gustav Stickley and his family lived at Craftsman Farms until 1915, when he filed for bankruptcy after several years of financial difficulties. Then there is the open charm felt of the structural features which are not hidden under plaster and ornament, but are clearly revealed, a charm felt in Japanese architecture….The quiet rhythmic monotone of the wall of logs fills one with the rustic peace of a secluded nook in the woods.” Craftsman Farms: 1917 to the present First, there is the bare beauty of the logs themselves with their long lines and firm curves. To quote from Stickley’s magazine, The Craftsman (November 1911): “There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea. When Stickley decided that the school’s opening would have to be delayed for several years, he modified the upstairs plans of the Log House to accommodate his family, consisting of his wife, Eda, five daughters and a son.Ĭraftsman Farms exemplifies Stickley’s philosophy of building in harmony with the environment by using natural materials. A separate home for the Stickley family was originally planned to be built further up the hill. In its huge kitchen, meals could be prepared for 100 people. Stickley originally designed the main house at Craftsman Farms as a “club house,” a gathering place for workers, students and guests. The focal point of his “Garden of Eden” was a large house constructed of round, hewn chestnut logs that were cut from the property’s woods and local stone also found on the property. In 1908 he began acquiring 650 acres of property on what is now the western edge of Parsippany-Troy Hills, an area formerly part of Morris Plains where he envisioned establishing a farm school for boys. He is best known today for his straightforward furniture, sometimes called “mission” or “Craftsman” furniture.Īround 1905 Stickley moved his headquarters from Syracuse to New York City. Stickley combined the roles of designer and manufacturer, architect, publisher, philosopher, and social critic. Craftsman Farms is the former country estate of noted turn-of-the-century designer Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement in decorative arts, home building and furnishing styles.
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