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From Bradford, going Hollywood

by Linda Smith Brown | Photos by Ron Johnson |
Bill Rouse, left, and Bob and Tricia Rouse of Green Gables in Bradford
Bill Rouse, left, and Bob and Tricia Rouse of Green Gables in Bradford

Green Gables Furniture in Stark County is the licensed merchandiser for the hit TV series Yellowstone

Bob Rouse of Bradford has been watching Yellowstone, the top scripted television program in the country, but not just to see the latest dramas of the Dutton family.

As the owner of Green Gables Furniture in Bradford, Rouse enjoys watching shows depicting Americana in their sets and furniture.

In 2021, Rouse went from being an avid viewer to becoming Yellowstone’s sole furniture merchandising partner.

“For what Yellowstone represents, I think we were a perfect fit as an American-made furniture manufacturer, doing a lot of western-style designs already,” said Rouse.

A little history

Rouse’s father started Green Gables Furniture in the family’s three-car garage, making small pieces that were sold at craft shows.

His parents, Bill and Marlene Rouse, quit their day jobs in the mid-1980s to run their own business, then built a 14,000-square-foot building for it.

In 2016, the company moved into a new, 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

The name Green Gables harkens back to the family’s antique store from decades ago, named for the building’s green gable shutters.

Rouse, 47, and his wife Tricia, 46, have owned Green Gables Furniture since 2012, when they purchased the company from Bob’s mother after his father’s death.

Rouse had started working for his father’s company in the shop, where he worked for 18 years.

“I’ve built the product and I can still go out to the shop and build product, if necessary,” said Rouse.

The Yellowstone backstory

Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner as head of the Dutton family in Montana, started airing in 2018 and last fall launched its fifth season.

After watching three seasons of the TV series, Bob and Tricia decided to approach Paramount, the company that owns the show, about becoming its licensed furniture merchandiser.

They started making phone calls. “Our timing could not have been better,” Tricia said. Paramount representatives were planning to attend the High Point Market, the nation’s prestigious furniture showplace in High Point, N.C., specifically looking for a company to do their licensed merchandising.

After a few Zoom meetings, phone conversations and exchanges of ideas about the Yellowstone “look,” Paramount canceled its plane reservations for High Point and began working with Green Gables.

The result is The Yellowstone Collection, with two lines of furniture: The Dutton and the Gallatin Valley lines.

Dixie Perez works in the finishing department at Green Gables
Dixie Perez works in the finishing department at Green Gables
Green Gables furniture designer Tim McClellan works on a piece at the Green Gables factory in Bradford
Green Gables furniture designer Tim McClellan works on a piece at the Green Gables factory in Bradford

Furniture in the Dutton line is made of reclaimed, naturally textured wood that can be up to 150 years old.

The Gallatin Valley line is made of hickory, the wood valued by American settlers, who appreciated its strength and usefulness.

Paramount approves each furniture design before it is finalized. The company also provides marketing assistance and star power. Last year, Paramount sent Jen Landon, the actress who portrays Teeter on Yellowstone, to be in the Green Gables booth at the High Point Market. The actress, daughter of the late actor, director and producer Michael Landon, stayed in the booth for more than five hours, greeting visitors, giving autographs and posing for selfies.

Because the Yellowstone sets and furnishings had been well established before the licensing agreement with Green Gables, none of the company’s furniture actually appears on the show. But the Yellowstone Collection has quickly become the top-selling furniture for Green Gables.

The Product

Much of Green Gables’ furniture is constructed from barn wood or reclaimed wood, which comes from other types of deconstructed buildings.

You can find its Yellowstone Collection line at Sauder Furniture in Roanoke. “It’s neat seeing the recycled wood being used,” said Skip Sauder, company president, who mostly appreciates working with the Rouse family. “As a fifth-generation family store ourselves, we’re proud to support local people doing well. We don’t put anything in our store that we wouldn’t put in our own homes, and Green Gables lives up to our standard of quality.”

Each piece of Green Gables furniture is handmade, bench-built by a craftsman and made to order. Custom orders are routine.

New wood was used when the company first started making furniture, creating updated designs of arts and crafts and Mission-style furniture.

Bob and Tricia pushed within the company for Green Gables to start using the old wood. “The rustic market was driven by log homes,” said Rouse. “You were seeing people using reclaimed wood, but not really making traditional designs with it. We were taking that wood and translating it for a regular home. You didn’t have to be in a log cabin to have the reclaimed wood look.”

The company offers 70 furniture collections, with an estimated total of 500 individual pieces. There is a Green Gables piece of furniture for every room in the house, including the bathroom.

Wholesale only

What Green Gables Furniture does not have is a showroom. Green Gables is strictly a wholesaler, offering its furniture exclusively through more than 200 retailers across the country. The company’s building doesn’t even have the company name on it, as it is not open to the public.

You can find its Yellowstone Collection line at Sauder Furniture in Roanoke. “It’s neat seeing the recycled wood being used,” said Skip Sauder, company president, who mostly appreciates working with the Rouse family. “As a fifth-generation family store ourselves, we’re proud to support local people doing well. We don’t put anything in our store that we wouldn’t put in our own homes, and Green Gables lives up to our standard of quality.”

Green Gables sets a strikingly fast pace, with 55 employees making enough furniture to fill a semi-truck every four days.

The interest in Green Gables furnishings is mostly from the west. Seventy percent of its furniture is sold west of the Mississippi River.

Once a customer places an order, delivery can be expected in six to 10 weeks.

Sadly, barn wood is a vanishing resource. “We’ll run out of barns,” said Rouse. “You really can’t fake the patina of aged wood. It’s almost impossible. Whoever figures that out is going to be a multi-millionaire.”

That diminishing resource is just one reason Green Gables makes legacy furniture. “Our furniture is heirloom quality, passed down generation to generation, built to the highest standards possible,” said Rouse.

Linda Smith Brown

Linda Smith Brown

is a 37-year veteran of the newspaper industry, retiring as publisher of Times Newspapers in the Peoria area

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