High Point Market showcased heritage collections honoring centuries-old estates, handcrafted pieces born from global travels, and wallcoverings that channeled a country club library. Here are three collections that showed up to the market with a point of view, and a sense of history:
The Althorp Living History collection expands upon its classic style with an exquisite use of figured walnut, drawing upon the historic designs found within the Althorp estate in England. Photo courtesy of Theodore Alexander
Theodore Alexander’s Althorp Living History Collection
Theodore Alexander’s Althorp Living History Collection draws from the Spencer family’s ancestral home of 19 generations of British nobility. The idea for the collection came to be after founder Paul Maitland-Smith walked through the family’s English countryside estate and emerged with a recorded inventory of nearly 3,000 designs to consider. According to the company, the entire collection draws in part from the Princess of Wales Bedroom front desk and bureaux, carrying the romance of that historic interior into the present.
Two decades later, the partnership is still dreaming up new designs.
The entire collection draws in part from the Princess of Wales Bedroom front desk and bureaux, carrying the romance of that historic interior into the present. Photo courtesy of Theodore Alexander
This year’s 20th anniversary collection brings a curated retrospective of 20 past designs, alongside a new addition to the Althorp Living History Collection titled Sunderland. The line reinvents more than two dozen antiques from the historic estate’s archives as shoppable pieces, including the Portly Gentleman, an anthropomorphic mahogany chest with wooden feet dressed in velvet slippers emblazoned with the Spencer family crest.
“The new collection gives us a chance to show our clients where we started and how the collection remains timeless,” says Theodore Alexander President Ed Teplitz. “We’re also evolving seamlessly in a way that fits today’s living, while honoring generations of design archives.”
Birdie Fortescue’s new collection spans furniture, lighting, rugs, and decorative accessories, all crafted in small, carefully curated production runs that ensure each piece carries character. Photo courtesy of Birdie Fortescue
Birdie Fortescue’s Vasanti Collection
Long before Birdie Fortescue became synonymous with timeless homeware, she was perfecting her craft as a decorator at Colefax and Fowler, immersed in the subtleties of English interiors. She went on to gain a reputation as an antiques dealer specializing in continental furniture, and in 2014 took on a Victorian warehouse in Burnham Market as a Norfolk base, transforming it into an interiors destination where antique furniture could sit alongside homeware and art.
Her first collection of block-printed soft furnishings followed in 2016. High Point Market 2026 marks her brand’s US debut, and the Vasanti collection is its introduction.
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- The collection’s rug selection moves between the Nirakar Abstract in blues and greens on soumak jute weave and the bold Shatranj Flat Weave in a checkerboard layout.
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- The Curato Garden Dining Collection combines lightweight weatherproof aluminum with the look of antique rattan. Photos courtesy of Birdie Fortescue
“With Vasanti, I wanted to capture that feeling of stepping into spring, when everything feels possible again,” Birdie says. “These pieces are designed to bring joy into everyday moments, whether you’re setting a table or creating a space to gather with the people you love.”
Named after the Sanskrit word for springtime, Vasanti spans furniture, lighting, rugs, and decorative accessories, all crafted in small, carefully curated production runs by artisans in India, Indonesia, and the UK. The Curato Garden Dining Collection combines lightweight weatherproof aluminum with the look of antique rattan, and the rug selection moves between the Nirakar Abstract in blues and greens. Everything is made by artisans and designed to be layered, with new items building on previous collections through intentional tones of green, blue, and red each season.
York Wallcoverings’ Ronald Redding Private Reserve
York Wallcoverings has been in the business of covering walls since 1895 in the historic Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania, making it the oldest and largest wallcovering producer in the US. The group’s Ronald Redding Private Reserve collection, the latest addition to the York Designer Series, is 18 patterns that read like a love letter to the kind of life lived in tweed, on horseback, with a gin and tonic somewhere nearby.
Ronald Redding has long been one of the most admired designers in the wallcoverings industry, known for reinventing what is considered historical and traditional, and integrating past and present to create contemporary classics. Private Reserve is a strong addition to that body of work. Each pattern is designed to feel like fine fabric on a wall, according to the company.
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- Dressage is a minimalist depiction of horses in motion.
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- The collection’s Polo Taupe wallcovering. Photos courtesy of York Wallcoverings
“Private Reserve captures the essence of quiet luxury and the enduring appeal of heritage design,” says Rachel Hull of York Wallcoverings. “Each pattern reflects the refined environments that inspire the collection, from equestrian culture to classic club interiors, while offering designers a fresh, modern palette for today’s elevated residential spaces.”
The collection is rooted in the ambiance of an exclusive country or social club, and it commits to that world completely. Dressage is a minimalist depiction of horses in motion. Hole in One is a softly illustrated golf course scene rendered in watercolor. Watson reimagines a bold houndstooth as a wallcovering. For anyone who has ever wanted their walls to feel like a well-worn blazer, this is the collection.
