Putting all your Eggs in one Basket

Easter weekend proved an ideal time to visit one of those "why is this here?" spots in Ohio. A place where you can truly put your eggs in one, or many, baskets. One of the most renown makers of woven basket is the Longaberger Company and they have created a tourist destination (see right, click to enlarge) not far from the company's beginnings in Dresden, Ohio (map, web). Situated less than an hour east of Columbus or about 90 minutes from Canton, Longaberger's Homestead offers tours, ambiance, food, and a taste of home the likes of Martha Stewart Living or Pottery Barn style.

Located on Ohio State Route 16 east of Newark, it is now quickly accessible thanks to investment by the State of Ohio in upgrading the route from a 2-lane road to a limited-access highway. Long-range plans are to link Columbus and Pittsburgh via 4-lane highways. Currently 65-mph divided highway can get you from Columbus to Newark, minus about six miles of reduced speed 2-lane driving, then to just north of Dresden again via 4-lane highway travel.

Coming east from Newark, you can get a hint of what's to come, as you pass Longaberger's corporate headquarters, a multi-story office building in the shape of a basket about 20 minutes east of the Longaberger site via highway (see right, click to enlarge). It is one of the most intriguing buildings anywhere. This place makes multiple web-hits for unique roadside attractions in America. It seems whenever I pass through Newark it is raining, and my ability to get a good picture of
the Longaberger building yields awful results.


Longaberger built a tourist destination out of Newark and Dresden during the economic boom of the region in the 1990s. A refurbished hotel in "downtown" Newark (map, web) serves as an overnight stop for touring not just Longaberger's attractions but the region as well. Too, golf opportunites exist through Longaberger's own country club. Traveling east from Newark you are escorted along the road by a uniquely styled wooden fence that continues all the way until you reach the Longaberger facility in Frazeyburg.

Greeting you as you enter the Homestead complex is a huge basket of apples... that is to say, a two-story basket with apples the size of a golf cart (see left, click to enlarge). Longaberger Baskets are primarily sold the route of Avon, Pampered Chef and PartyLite, through the hostess, party-in-your-house method. They are of high quality and not moderately priced. The baskets are hand-woven in the factory located on the grounds of The Homestead, which was built well after the factory expanded beyond its Dresden origins.

Upon entering the visitor center you can witness a worker weaving together the trademark baskets while you obtain information to plan your visit, purchase tour tickets, freshen up in the facilities, or grab a snack. Browsing the grounds, The Homestead shops -- all in one large building complex (see left, click to enlarge) -- or Crawford Barn (for discounted merchandise) are free. The architecture, both of the structures and the landscape are worth the stroll on a nice day.

The lobby is the focal point of the Homestead shops entrance (see above, click to enlarge). Wrapping around the second floor is a balcony and grand staircase. Stenciled along the edges of balcony on the hardwood flooring is a leaf motif. From either floor, the store spreads out east and west with different shopping themes ranging from clothing and furniture to housewares and toys.

The western side of the Homestead stores end with some housewares but sprouts a large tree that has the look of having grown right through the ceiling to the 2nd floor and roof. Peering up (see left, click to enlarge) you can see kids gear on the floor above. Climbing the steps brings you to toys, collectibles, clothes and other home accoutrements for the children. The rope-strewn balcony lends a playful air to the room and is inviting for children to roam and seek.

The stuffed giraffes beckon you towards what looks like a tunnel carved out of a tree. Stepping through the "tree" leads you to more shops, and one of the most unique rooms you will find anywhere (see right, click to enlarge). Imagination appears to be the main ingredient used to cook up the design of this wing of the series of shops.


The shop with lots of goodies for decorating a child's room is itself a child's dream of a room. The ceiling is decorated as a puffy partly cloudy day against a beautiful blue sky, but gazing down at the floor gives a heightened sensation. The hardwood floor has been stunningly painted to look like farmer's fields as seen from thousands of feet above in the air (see right, click to enlarge). The whisps of thin clouds painted along the floor lend an airy feeling of soaring above the world in a room where imaginations could also take wing. It can only be imagined how many children run to their parents in delight pleading for their room to be made over like this one!

The Crawford Barn stands majestically at the eastern edge of the Homestead complex (see right, click to enlarge). It was painstakingly restored and is as impressive a structure as the other buildings on the property. It houses discounted merchandise and a cafe and snack bar. While the $7 pulled pork is a bit pricey for a small meal, it is well above the quality of other pricey tourist destination meals at other attractions around the state and country. A nice sized playground will help the little ones to unwind if tagging along with the grown-ups have turned them into, well, basket cases.

Tours of the basket making facility are available and worth the time and cost. Longaberger baskets are hand-woven and a process that is intriguing to view. A shuttle will take tourists from the visitor center to the factory. While it is "on the grounds" it is not exactly a quick walk to the production center.

Included on-site is also a sit-down restaurant and between the tour, the restaurant, the Homestead shops and the soon-to-open Yankee Candle outlet in a Victorian style home built on the grounds, this is a site where you can truly relax and spend considerable time. On the day I visited there were three tourist busses parked in the lot but barely a crowd inside the Homestead. Between the factory tour, Crawford Barn and Homestead shops, there is so much available that hundreds of people can be on site and it would not feel crowded.

A tiskit, a taskit, don't forget your Longaberger basket!

- J.