Compare – Manchester vs Lancaster – Review
Posted by Richard on Oct 15, 2023 in Leather Furniture, Upholstered Furniture | 3 commentsWhat you should know about Casco Bay Furniture’s Manchester leather sofa featured in Brompton Cocoa
The Manchester Sofa has a classic rolled arm design. This style was made popular by Restoration Hardware’s Lancaster sofa and other large catalog companies. This style has been one of the most popular sofas in the industry for decades. Compare the quality of our Manchester Leather Sofa to Restoration Hardware’s Lancaster Leather Sofa and those offered by other large catalog companies and retailers. Our version of this sofa, The Manchester is handcrafted by Jonathan Wesley Furniture, in a state of the art manufacturing facility in Taylorsville, North Carolina. The owner of our factory has been making high quality upholstered furniture for over 42 years. Prior to owning his own factory he was the plant manager for Taylor King Furniture owned by his family and also located in Taylorsville, NC. Taylor King was later purchased by Hancock and Moore where he remained after the sale prior to opening Jonathan Wesley Furniture.
Casco Bay Furniture’s Manchester sofa is available in 70 different pieces with numerous sofa lengths, sectionals, ottomans and sleep sofas. We also make the Manchester in custom sizes. It is available in 3 seating depth with overall depths of 38”, 43” and 48” with corresponding seating depths of 22.5”, 25” and 30”. We also offer two leg options, three finish options, a choice of 149, full grain, fully aniline dyed leathers from the worlds most famous leather tannery located in Bassano Del Grappa Italy, a choice of nailhead trim options and 6 cushion options.
So what’s different about our Manchester sofa? How does it compare?
Casco Bay Furniture traditional hand-knotted, 8 way hand-tied construction with a 5/4 Hardwood frame. The Ultimate in durability and comfort! Hand Crafted in North Carolina.
We think we have improved on a good thing. Our Manchester sofa is handcrafted exclusively in greater Hickory, North Carolina. The quality leather furniture capital of the world. It is never imported from China or Mexico. The Famous Catalog Company imports their Original Lancaster Leather Sofa from China according to personnel at their customer service department’s 800 number. In addition to the quality features of a North Carolina produced product, North Carolina hand crafting makes it easily serviced should the need ever arise, should you accidently damage your furniture. Our sofas are never subject to the harsh conditions often found in overseas containers. Overseas containers on a variety of products often contain chemicals used to prevent mold.
Our frames are made of 5/4 Appalachian hardwood, usually maple, not hardwood plywood commonly used in about 98% of the sofas sold in the industry yet referred to and sold as hardwood frames or sometimes referred to by some manufacturers as Engineered Hardwood. The Famous Catalog Brand uses plywood frames in most of their sofas according to personnel at their customer service department’s 800 number. Plywood contains glues and chemicals not found in hardwood. 5/4 hardwood is a natural product. Plywood frames are made by a computer called a C&C router and are then assembled like a jig saw puzzle. 5/4 hardwood frames are made in machine shops and are built to last for many decades with proper care.
Typical Drop-In- Coil System. This drop in system is generally floated and screwed into hardwood plywood frame but referred to as a hardwood frame.
Our spring construction is built to the Gold Standard, which is True 8 Way Hand Tied Hand Knotted Springs. This spring system is a complex spring system taking hours to build. The system is comprised of four layers, with steel banding across the base of the frame (like a checkerboard). The easiest way to test a sofa to see if it is really True 8 Way Hand Tied is to reach under the sofa and see if you feel the checkerboard of steel bands found under the sofa, usually covered by a dust cover. This spring system is built to last for many decades with proper care. Some companies use another type of 8 way hand tied spring system called a drop in unit. What exactly does this mean?
The Drop in 8 Way Hand Tied Coil System is essentially a pre-manufactured spring system. This system is manufactured outside the furniture. It typically resembles a wire or wooden box with coil springs 8 way tied and clipped to the unit. It is then placed on top of the frame and screwed into place. This pre-manufactured system is not built into the frame and as a result, does not contribute to the torsional strength of the frame and spring. It also does not have steel banding across the base of the frame which greatly increases the strength of the spring system and framing. It can be installed in a matter of minutes. This system cost substantuially less to manufacture than a true 8 way hand tied spring system. The easiest way to test to see if the sofa you are looking at has a drop in unit is by reaching under the sofa and see if you feel a wooden and wire box just inside the parameter of the frame. In this case you will not feel the checkerboard pattern of steel banding covered by a dust cover going accross the frame found in a true 8 way hand tied system.
No Sag, Sinuous Spring suspension set into hardwood plywood frames used by most other retailers making Maxwell styled Look-A-Likes such as Pottery Barn’s Turner sofa.
No Sag, Sinuous Spring suspensions are usually set into hardwood plywood frames, (but again referred to as hardwood frames) are typical of the spring construction used by 98% of other retailers and some catalog companies making Rolled Arm Sofas. A sinuous, no-sag spring system is no more than an s-shaped wire stretched across a frame every 6″ to 9”. A Sinuous Spring is also hard on your cushions as it creates a firm surface that only moves in one direction, up and down. Another popular online retailer selling this style uses this spring construction in their sofa.
Another form of spring construction derived from the mattress industry is called a Drop In Pocketed Coil. This is a preassembled unit compromised of a series of small springs encased in fabric. In this system the frame is turned upside down and the frame is covered with a polypropylene fabric called “FLW” and stapled in place. Some manufacturers using this type of construction will have a few steel bands across the base. The frame is then turned back over and glue is sprayed on the poly. The pocketed unit is then glued to the poly. This pre-manufactured system is also not built into the frame and as a result, does not contribute to the torsional strength of the frame and spring. This is offered by another online retailer making this sofa. The Famous Catalog Brand uses this system in their Cloud sofa according to their website.
Based on our wholesale costs to build this sofa to our construction standards as outlined above (and there are only a handful of manufacturers still building sofas this way), and based on a typical retail markup, sofas built to our standard would generally retail for twice our price.
We offer 4 upgraded cushion options on our Manchester sofa for a nominal fee. High Resiliency 1.8 21 foam with a down blend wrap for a medium softness and High Resiliency 2.5 25 with a down blend wrap for a firmer cushion. We also offer two version of our High Resiliency Spring Down cushion which is our most popular cushion and in our opinion one of the best cushions to be found in the industry. Very few manufacturers offer this cushion. High Resiliency foam is a high-quality foam lasting substantially longer than regular foam. Other retailers and catalog companies do not offer offer these options. Our cushion cores are all domestically produced in Hickory NC. Our cushions are never imported.
And saving the best for last, in spite of the quality features found in our sofa, our sofa generally cost less than other similar looking Rolled Arm Sofas and includes more such as no sales tax and free or subsidized in home delivery . And our sofas are delivered by a private delivery service. The same drivers that leave NC will set up your furniture in your home. This type of delivery does not have Freight Transfers in terminals. The sofas stay in the same spot on the truck during the entire delivery process. The result is damage free deliveries. Not impossible but rare.
The Original Brompton Cocoa.
The most popular leather sold on our Manchester sofa is Brompton Cocoa which we stock in our factory, leading to quicker production times. It is important to note that we buy the original Brompton Cocoa from Bassano Del Grappa Italy. There are many Knock Offs of Brompton Cocoa. None of them compare to the original yet many retailers do sell copies of this leather. As a rule most of the copies are not as thick and do not develop the patina the original does and do not have the same appearance. Brompton leather produced in Italy must also conform to the high-quality standards of the European Union. They can’t use formaldehyde for example in tanning these leathers. Formaldehyde is commonly used in the tanning process in other countries. We do offer free swatches where you can compare this leather for yourself and make your own conclusions.
Our Manchester sofa is also offered in a wide variety of full aniline dyed leathers from the world’s leading supplier of high-quality leather.
I have been involved in the manufacturing and sales of investment quality leather furniture for 40 years. Whatever you decide to purchase and of course this is only my opinion based on decades of experience, ask for and in fact insist upon, construction photos of the of what’s inside your furniture. A well constructed sofa can last 40 or even 50 years and even if you don’t plan on keeping it that long you will know that while you own it, it will sit good, look good and won’t sag or bottom out.
Look for detailed pictures or videos of frame, spring and cushion construction. Most new sofas and sectionals will look good on the outside, how long they will last is determine by how they are built on the inside. If the perspective retailer says photos or videos are not available ask yourself, why not? Many manufactures employing high quality construction techniques are proud of what they build. They almost always will show construction photos or videos on their web site or catalog.
Buying a leather sofa is an important purchase. We have provided this information to the reader for educational purposes so the reader can make their own shopping comparisons. We have provided information about how our sofas are constructed and provided photographs of how are sofas are constructed. We have also explained the various other types of frame and spring construction found in the furniture industry. As you are now an informed consumer be sure to ask other potential retailers detailed questions as to where and how their sofas are constructed. A leather sofa should be a long term investment. A well built sofa with the construction features employed by Casco Bay Furniture can last for decades. Make sure you make the right decision in your sofa or sectional purchase. Please give us a call if you have any further questions about our product.
We also make Manchester sofas and sectionals with all with all their quality features in a Track Arm version called the Madison.
Richard
I purchased 2 Lancaster sofa from RH many years ago. I wish I had known about your company back then. We have an issue with the cushions getting wedged down after someone sits on them. Any ideas of what our problem might be? I have a photo but can’t figure out how to attach it.
It sounds like the cushion cores are breaking down. Today the RH Lancaster’s are made in China but prior to 2011 they were, to the best of my knowledge made in NC. The last manufacturer being Old Hickory Tannery in NC. Old Hickory Tannery does make a very nice product and I would imagine they might have used a pretty nice cushion. In 2011 I recall OHT built a new plant just to service RH. The plant which was 180,000 Sq. Feet was finished and then RH dropped them and went to China. It almost put OHT out of business I’ve been told. I am not sure when your sofa was made. If it was made by OHT you might try calling them. What I might do is to replace the cushion cores. I would suggest either contacting a local upholsterer or their are some online companies that sell cushion cores (probably the less costly option). I know of one called http://www.cushionsxpress.com/ . I don’t have any direct experience with them but you could give them a try. I think they called a down wrapped cushion an Envelope cushion. You would want a down wrapped cushion with a foam core. Ask if they have a high quality foam such as Ultracel Foam. One problem with RH is they don’t have any system in place I know of to handle issues like this or even allow a customer to purchase replacement cores. I guess shipping them from overseas is too complex. One of our nicest cushions is called an Ultracel Spring Down which is a combination of coil springs wrapped in fabric, fiberfill, soy based Ultracel foam and then wrapped in down but I doubt if you could find this to easily. They might have a spring down cushion but probably not one using long life soy based Ultracel foam.
How do I get a Casco Bay sofa delivered to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada?