Our Story

Millstream Home was created as an ode to our Amish heritage. Our childhood stories have inspired each hand-crafted product. Jake was raised in an Amish home until he was 16 years old. He grew up on a large farm among the rolling fields of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, waking many mornings to work in the barn and then hitch up his horse and pony to head off to the one room schoolhouse. I was raised in a large family stitched with rich Amish heritage, the youngest of 8 children. I spent most of my childhood in elaborate pretend homes under our evergreens, playing house and shaping a world out of imagination.

As the years went on, Jake and I met and created our own family home filled with life and love and babies, chasing dreams and fireflies, soaking in the beauty of life along the Millstream. But in the midst of everyday moments we began to recognize that we had so little from our childhood to pass onto our children. What gives an object value? What makes something an heirloom? If we didn’t have something on the shelf we could point toward, could we start now?

 What would happen if we’d design products that our local craftsmen could manufacture? Beautiful things we could use and pass down, and begin the journey of an item on a shelf to an item cherished, an heirloom in the making.

So in early 2016 we began our journey, driving for hours down endless back roads, tracking down the most talented and timeless makers still using historic production methods. Our makers live simple lives and create beautiful products. Their stories became ours, and Millstream Home was born. Jake and I have poured our hearts into every detail of this collection. Every stitch, rivet and seam has been diligently and meticulously looked after.

We believe it’s time to be more mindful about purchasing, to be good stewards of this power that we have and to start saying no to disposable home goods. We have choices and options now about knowing who made the things we buy and place in our homes. We believe that American Made Matters and that supporting the local maker is always worth it. After all, these products are meant to last and, in time, to even carry their own stories and meaning. When you make a purchase from Millstream Home, you directly support each Maker and their family. Our Amish basket weavers, quilters, toymakers, our seamstress and potters, blacksmiths and leather makers, candlemakers and broom weavers. Each piece is made in someone’s shop or shed, or garage turned craft room. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. No elaborate factories here, just a hard days work and a life spent doing what we love. Thank you for taking the time to be here. If we could, we’d have you all over for dinner.