Find classic Amish style in Elgin

For a touch of classic style for your home, head over to Amish Furniture by Burress in Elgin.

The store sells handmade wooden furniture that is made and finished by Amish people living in Holmes County, Ohio, one of the largest enclaves of Amish people in the world.

When Henry Chen of Prospect Heights initially took over the business in 1983, the store offered Asian furniture.

He made the change soon after he bought the business, seeing that wooden furniture crafted in the United States was becoming the next big thing.

"When I took over, I found out that the trends kind of changed," he said. "People wanted good furniture and the best is done domestically."

Chen once operated stores in four other locations -- two in Indiana, one in Villa Park and another in St. Charles -- before consolidating them into one store in Elgin, which he opened in 1990.

Orders are filled out at the store, then sent to Ohio, he said.

It can get to be a tough business though, because most of the items are customized, it can take up to 12 weeks for an item to reach the store, Chen said.

But in the end, it's worth it, Chen said, because the customers are usually extremely delighted.

So what are the store's most popular items?

Bedroom furniture, says office manager Pat Beckmann, which includes dressers, beds, nightstands and the like.

The store also does well with tables, chairs, entertainment centers and stands for plasma television sets, Beckmann said.

Furniture is offered in all sorts of woods, including oak and cherry and finishes.

Prices range from $20 to a wooden cutting board to $3,000 for bed made of cherry and maple woods that offers hidden compartments for storage, she said.

"Hide your extra money in there or something," Beckmann joked

Other offerings include hutches, leather couches, Newport glider rocking chairs, kitchen cabinets and children's furniture.

"What we have on our showroom floor is just a small example of what's available," Beckmann said.

The bulk of the store's customer base comes from word of mouth. The company's Web site also attracts customers some as far away as Florida, Georgia, Colorado and Maryland.

Still, though the businesses can be a challenge at times, Chan says there's nothing else he'd rather be doing.

"(The Amish) will do a wonderful job and (customers) will be very happy," he said. "I just feel good by doing this."

Amish Furniture by Burress is located at 663 Villa St. in Elgin. For more information, call (847) 697Ã…“9790 or visit http://www.burressoak.com.