The Founder’s Story
The founder’s story
The Art of Seeing
What Others
Could Not.
A story of family, resilience, and a lifetime of revealing the extraordinary in what others overlooked.
Read the story
01 / The roots
A legacy that began
before me.
My story didn’t begin with me. It began generations ago—long before ArtFactory.com, long before the first piece of wood was ever shaped by my hands.
What he carried
could never be taken.
My grandfather, Joseph Marabella, came to America from Palermo, Sicily, in the late 1800s. He didn’t come seeking opportunity alone. He came to survive.
Threatened by the Black Hand, he left everything behind, carrying his skill, his discipline, and his ability to build with his hands.
In Sicily, he worked the land, cultivating citrus in ancient Roman aqueducts. He came from a family of craftsmen who understood:
“What you build with your hands becomes your legacy.”
A life shaped
by resilience.
On the other side, my father, Hubert Hardas, was born in 1905 into a life of hardship few could imagine.
Orphaned as a child. Put to work in coal mines at a young age. Raised through struggle, not comfort. He later served his country during World War II—a man shaped by discipline, sacrifice, and survival.
From him, I learned something just as important:
“You don’t wait for opportunity—you create it.”
02 / The vision
I saw something
waiting to be revealed.
Over 60 years ago, when I first began working with wood, the industry had already decided what was valuable: perfect grain, uniform structure, predictable materials.
And then there was pecky cedar and pecky cypress. I was told it was defective. Too irregular. Not suitable for anything of value. Much of what I saw was being used simply to hold dirt in place.
But when I looked at that heartwood—every void, every pocket, every irregular grain—I saw character. I saw history. I saw nature expressing something no machine ever could.
Where others saw something broken,H.J. Nick
I saw something waiting to be revealed.
The beginning was humble
I started with just a few pieces. The wood was available, and I knew what it could become. I built my first pieces. Then more. Furniture. Doors. Designs that didn’t exist anywhere else.
Early on, I made a decision that would define everything:
I would not hide the imperfections.
I would feature them.
For years, I heard the same thing: “It will never be accepted.” “It’s not high-end.” “No one will pay for that.”
But I didn’t stop. I was building based on vision.
The natural character continues on the reverse.
The material matters
Character.
And endurance.
There was something else I noticed early on: the endurance of this wood. I had seen it exposed to soil, moisture, weather, and time, and I respected what it could withstand.
Carefully selected cedar and cypress heartwood offered more than a distinctive appearance. Their natural durability gave me a material worth understanding—and worth building with.
That endurance depended on more than appearance. Selecting sound material, drying it properly, and designing the construction for its purpose were part of the craft.
It became clear to me: this was a material for art and for long-term architectural use. In skilled hands, it could become something extraordinary, built with generations in mind.
03 / The legacy
From rejected
to revered.
The turning point came when customers began to see what I saw: depth, authenticity, and the knowledge that no two pieces would ever be the same.
One piece became ten. Ten became hundreds. Hundreds became thousands.
Today, after more than six decades, our handcrafted doors and furnishings exist across the world. For nearly 45 years, we have brought in truckloads of the same wood others once dismissed.
Now it is sought after. Now it defines luxury. And every piece still begins with the same question: what can this become?
Standing in the tradition
of the masters.
Throughout history, great craftsmen have seen beyond the material in front of them. I think of Michelangelo and the vision it took to reveal David in marble. I think of Lorenzo Ghiglieri, and of Mark Russo’s dedication to bringing enduring fine art into people’s lives.
What inspires me is the ability to see possibility—and the commitment to make it real. At ArtFactory.com, we have followed that same path, transforming overlooked material into enduring works of functional art.
The philosophy, made tangible
A legacy you
can walk through.
Roots. Growth. Resilience. The Tree of Life brings the spirit of this story into a hand-carved entrance—a work of functional art with a story of its own.
Explore the Tree of Life doorThe American Tree of Life · AD6259
What I know to be true
There is no such thing as
worthless material.
Only undiscovered potential.
True craftsmanship comes from taking something overlooked and revealing the greatness inside it. Every door, every table, every design we create begins with three principles.
- 01
Honor
the material. - 02
Respect
its natural story. - 03
Reveal
its highest potential.
This is the continuation of a Sicilian craftsman who built a new life with his hands, a man who survived the coal mines and served his country, and a lifetime of proving that vision matters more than opinion.
The greatest works—in wood, stone, or life itself—come from vision. From resilience. From the courage to see what others overlook.
Where the overlooked becomes extraordinary,
and legacy is built by hand.
Founder, ArtFactory.com
Your vision. Our craftsmanship.
What will your
legacy look like?
Let’s talk about the door, furnishing, or architectural work you have in mind.
Discuss your project 1-800-292-0008 · Ask for Karla