Charles Limbert

Charles P. Limbert (1854–1923) was an American furniture designer. He is considered one of the most successful furniture leaders in the history of Grand Rapids and the Arts and Crafts movement in America. The furniture that bears his name is highly sought after and seriously collected to this day. His designs were mainly inspired by such diverse influences as English Arts and Crafts, Dutch folk furniture, Scottish architect/designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the Vienna Secession.

Early Days Limbert was born in Linesville, Pennsylvania, in 1854, the son of cabinetmaker and furniture dealer Levi H. Limbert. After moving with his family in 1866 to Akron, Ohio, he later learned the furniture business in the 1870s at his father's store. As a young man in Akron, the first business he tried on his own was in the carriage trade.

Career After leaving Akron, Limbert moved to Chicago (where he worked as a salesman at Colbys Furniture Store), then to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he set up his permanent business location at the newly built Blodgett building in 1889. After several major collaborations in that city, such as the “Klingman & Limbert Chair Co.” and his own furniture selling commission called “Charles P. Limbert & Co.”, he opened his own name brand company, the “Charles P. Limbert Furniture Co.” in Grand Rapids in 1902, and his own custom built factory in Holland, Michigan, in 1906, where his entourage designed and built "Limbert's Holland Dutch Arts and Crafts Furniture". Limbert continued to manage his company until 1922, when poor health prompted him to sell his share in the company.

Factory Locations Limbert originally started producing furniture in Grand Rapids at a variety of unknown locations, before finally securing their factory at the south west corner of Butterworth and Front, which was previously owned by the Clipper Bicycle Co. After 1906, they made furniture in their own brand new and customized factory in Holland Michigan, built at the south east corner of Sixth and Columbia.

Limbert's provided several major custom orders of furniture for the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. The hotel is still filled with Limbert Rockers, Arm-Chairs and Settles in the "Flanders" style, with a custom ordered yellow finish. Several wash stands remain in the Old House section of the Inn, and a number of pieces of Old Hickory furniture, a line represented by Limbert, are still in use.