The Amish Craft Barn in Seaford celebrates 30 years in business
Amish Craft Barn's Hoerauf family, from left: son Cody, dad Frank, mom Pam, son Jesse and son Tyler, with Pam's father, George Kerrigan. Credit: Amish Craft Barn
The Amish Craft Barn in Seaford has helped beautify homes across Long Island with custom furnishings for three decades. And it all started with a young couple’s road trip.
This spring, owners Pam and Frank Hoerauf “had a big open house,” Pam Hoerauf says, to mark the 30th anniversary of buying and moving into the former farm property that would become home to them and their family-run business.
The former Berner High School sweethearts trace the origin of their company to a fateful trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While there, they instantly fell for the handcrafted mailboxes, windmills and garden items the region is known for.
With a $5,000 credit card cash advance — “That’s how broke we were,” says Frank, 61 — he returned in a truck, bought as many items as he could, came home and put them on their lawn. “We were sold out in two weekends,” he says. Business grew, slowly but surely, early on. The Amish Craft Barn was officially incorporated in 1997. The Hoeraufs have sold Amish-made furnishings ever since. Today, materials are delivered by tractor trailers and not hauled home by Frank.
Over the decades there have been other shifts. “We’ve evolved into outdoor living specialists,” says Pam, 59. “Since the pandemic, everyone’s redoing their backyards.” Pavilions, pergolas, sheds, play sets, outdoor furniture are among their current top sellers. Another change is in materials. Polywood, made from recycled plastic, “has taken over because there’s no maintenance,” she says.
Amish Craft Barn is a family run business by the Hoerauf family in Seaford. Credit: Amish Craft Barn
The constant for the business is that it’s a family enterprise. Alongside Pam and Frank, their sons play key roles. Jesse, 27, covers installations and customer calls; Tyler, 30, keeps the Instagram account up-to-date for its nearly 17,000 followers, and Cody, 31, handles the website and graphics.
Pam’s 89-year-old dad, George Kerrigan, who lives in Massapequa, has been involved since day one. He works in the gift shop on Saturdays with his dog, Maggie.
Jesse also pitches in at the shop, which features candles and small home and garden goods.
Prices for pavilions, which are installed typically in a day, start at $10,000. Storage sheds run $4,000 and up. Adirondack chairs sell for $350 and up, while lighthouses, which are popular for waterside homes, run $200 to $2,000. Mailboxes sell for $90 and up.
Decades later, the family no longer gets asked if they’re Amish (they’re not). Working with his family is “fun and rewarding,” says Jesse. “We’re kind of always on the same page.”
Pam echoes that sentiment, saying, “We’re lucky.”
Amish Craft Barn, 1080 Hicksville Rd., 516-799-8917, amishcraftbarn.com. Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday.
