While Douglas R. Dimes has always made furniture as a commercial venture as a way to support his family, there are more altruistic components to the company. For many years, Mr. Dimes was focused on the business and its long term and sometimes even short-term survival. As his furniture began to become well known in certain circles, museums began to seek him out.

Over the years, D.R. Dimes & Company, Ltd., known as the Windsor Chair Shop Inc. until 1992, has made a large variety of pieces for museums of all sizes and shapes. Some major museums like Olde Sturbridge Village were license agreements, but most were museum curators looking for appropriate pieces for display, as was the case with the Smithsonian Institute. The great value in these relationships was not primarily financial but intellectual. The exposure to the museums led to a better understanding and appreciation of Early American furniture makers, their furniture and their methods.

Click on the images above and get a glimpse into the past. These only represent a small fraction of the many museum projects undertaken in the career of Douglas R. Dimes. His scholarship in Early American furniture as well as period architecture and other decorative arts is the foundation of his mission - to craft the finest examples of Early American furniture.