Vagabond House

A family-owned California handcrafter of solid-pewter tableware and giftware, started in 1986 making jewelry from antique flatware and grown into one of the more distinctive luxury tabletop brands in the wholesale gift market.

Founded: June 1986
Headquarters: Sierra Madre, California (Los Angeles foothills)
Owners: Haas and Hardy families (since 2004)
Parent company: VHAC Enterprises Inc. / Vagabond Group
Sister brand: Arthur Court Designs
Materials: Lead-free solid pewter, hand-blown Italian glass, American cherry wood
Categories: Tableware, serveware, barware, giftware
Distribution: Specialty retailers + Faire

The story

Vagabond House started in June 1986 with an unusual product line: jewelry and table accents made from antique silver flatware. The pendants and rings the company produced in those early years still circulate among long-time customers. The company was acquired by the Haas and Hardy families in 2004, and the focus shifted exclusively to tableware. Pewter production followed shortly after, and the design language — nature-inspired, often featuring carved botanicals, animals, and fanciful detailing — began to take its current form.

The two families operate the company across three generations from offices in the foothills outside Los Angeles. Creative Director Scott Haas leads the design team for both Vagabond House and the company's sister brand, Arthur Court Designs.

What they make

The flagship material is solid pewter — 100% lead-free, food-safe, and importantly not plated, so it cannot wear through to a base metal the way silverplate can. Pewter is paired in many designs with hand-blown Italian glass and American cherry wood. The catalog covers serving platters, trays, bowls, utensils, ice buckets, vases, candle holders, frames, ornaments, and barware.

Themed collections give the catalog its character. Majestic Forest draws on acorns, oak leaves, and woodland motifs. Song Bird features sparrow detailing inspired by the birds nesting at the company's California headquarters. Equestrian appeals to a specific (and brand-loyal) customer base. The asparagus-handled trays and butterfly-decorated centerpieces have become signature designs that retailers identify as distinctly Vagabond House.

How they sell

Distribution is wholesale through specialty tabletop, gift, and home retailers, plus a presence on Faire's wholesale platform. The Vagabond Group operates a separate wholesale portal at vagabond-group.com that handles trade ordering for both brands. The company also offers private-label development for luxury tabletop accounts — a meaningful capability for retailers building store-exclusive lines.

Arthur Court, the sister brand, focuses on sand-cast aluminum and was the first U.S. company to incorporate aluminum into tabletop in the 1970s. The two brands serve different price points and aesthetics, with the combined portfolio giving retailers a coherent vendor relationship across both materials.

Why they're worth knowing

For luxury tabletop and bridal-registry programs, Vagabond House occupies a position that pure-aluminum brands like Mariposa or Beatriz Ball can't quite reach. Solid pewter has a different visual weight and patina than polished aluminum — heavier, more traditional, more clearly heirloom. The price point is correspondingly higher, but the bridal-registry use-case supports it well, particularly for customers in equestrian, hunting, coastal, and woodland markets where the themed collections resonate strongly.

The private-label capability is unusual at this scale and offers high-end specialty retailers something most pewter wholesalers can't — the ability to develop store-exclusive product without minimum-order volumes typical of overseas custom production.

Where to find them

Consumer site: vagabondhouse.com
Wholesale site: vagabond-group.com
Headquarters: Sierra Madre, California
Sister brand: Arthur Court Designs
Trade show presence: Atlanta Market, Las Vegas Market, NY NOW

Profile based on public information from Vagabond House's official site, the Vagabond Group corporate site, and the company's LinkedIn profile. Updated August 2024. Return to all profiles →