To say that Bob Hart loves his work is an understatement. This self-taught furniture maker has put his “all” into his creations for most of his life. Over the years, he has hand-built furniture for some of the best companies in Texas — Kroehler, Titches and Weirs, just to name a few. Hart framed the first check that Dan Weir gave him. “Dan Weir wouldn’t let anyone else’s furniture on his floor but mine,” he says proudly.
Hart began in his teens, often working with his two older brothers at this craft. He says that they were really the most talented. “One job my brother and I took, we thought it would make us famous, it was for President Richard Nixon,” says Hart. “We were asked to re-upholster his boat in Florida. When we got there, there was only one problem — we weren’t allowed to take any pictures because of security. It was a great experience but we are the only ones that can prove we did the work.”
Hart has had several shops of his own over the years, one on Greenville Avenue and, more recently, one in North Dallas. “There was so much work in North Dallas, I was working all the time and had a lot of employees. One day in 1985, I just got tired of the traffic and told my assistant he could have the business and I left.
I soon began working out of my home and have been here ever since,” says Hart.
It was while working at Kroehler that a mill foreman taught Hart how to make a child’s rocker. In 1972, Hart began modifying the design and came up with his Lil’ Haeleigh Rocker, named after his grand-daughter. Orders for this upholstered version of a platform rocker keeps Hart busy all the time now.
“It is hand made out of poplar, mahogany, or ash hardwoods, depending of the fabric color. The quality rocker is made for ages two years and up and has a 25-year warranty. We know a hundred ways that we could have made the rocker less expensive but we don’t know of anything we can do to make it better,” Hart says.
The Harts now have a shop in Winnsboro where he can work on the rockers and refinish furniture. “I prefer working with antiques,” says Hart. “They were made so much better, with real wood. You really have something to work with. I don’t dip them to strip off the old paint, I hand strip them.” His wife, Sharon, quickly adds that this is a dying art.
Both Hart and his wife were raised in East Dallas. They met through her best friend who lived across the street from Hart on Tremont. After Sharon graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, they married. “Most everyone says the wedding was a waste of time,” Hart laughed. Now 39 years, four daughters, and four grandchildren later, time spent seems to have paid off after all.
While working in North Dallas in the 80s, Hart also learned how to fabric walls. He worked with many builders in creating masterpieces for upscale homes. His home also adorns his work, in the den, bedrooms, and bathrooms. “Really, the ones who have benefited most from his work are our daughters,” sighs Sharon. “He always does whatever they ask him to do.”
Hart and Sharon see themselves someday permanently moving to Winnsboro, but not just yet. They enjoy traveling to local craft fairs, selling the Lil’ Haeleigh Rocker, and relish the many weekends that they get away to the east Texas shop. But their daughters don’t really want to see them leave “their home,” and Hart has a lot of clients that would miss him and his work.
“I hesitate to tell people just how long I have been making furniture … 43 years sounds old,” says Hart. “They might think that I am too old to work.” Not a chance, Bob Hart intends to “rock on.”
To place a custom order for a child’s rocker, call Bob Hart at 214-341-2430.
