Little Castle Glider Rocker Fairfax

Update October 2017: It appears Little Castle and their parent Castle Home Furnishings have gone out of business—both of the company’s web sites are down. Phone numbers for both companies are disconnected. We’ve reached out to the company’s owner for comment and will update this when we hear back.

Web site: LittleCastleInc.com

Expensive, but good quality is how we’d describe Little Castle’s glider rockers. Little Castle specializes in all-upholstered, swivel gliders. An example is their popular Cottage model, a soft, over-stuffed chair for $710. Other styles start at $380 on BabiesRUs.com. The Fairfax glider (pictured) sells for $718. Custom styles can easily top $1000, although the opening price for Little Castle in most specialty stores is $650.

As you’d expect for that price level, you get a wide choice of fabrics (all of which are online at Little Castle’s web site) and other perks like a hidden release button to recline the chair.

FYI: Little Castle gliders are made in Oxnard, California. Each chair is custom made; delivery is about ten weeks.

New in the past year, Little Castle released a leatherette chair ($700 to $800 in white, brown or black) that can be customized with cushions using fabric from their entire line or your own fabric. These extra cushions run $130 for a set.

To differentiate from the gliders it sells to chains, Little Castle is launching a collection of chairs under the “Castle Home Furnishings” brand that will be sold in independent stores only. Prices will be similar to Little Castle’s main line.

Readers generally like this company, but we heard from more than one that had quality issues with their expensive Little Castle gliders. One had a spring that popped out of the bottom of the chair; another said her Cottage Chase glider developed a hole in the arm after just eight months of use. Worse, Little Castle told these reader there was nothing they could to do help her since the fabric was discontinued (even though the chair comes with a one year warranty). In the case of the spring, Little Castle refused to repair the chair since it was outside of their one year warranty. Maybe we’re crazy, but when you spend a $1000 on a custom Little Castle chair, we think the company should stand behind the product for more than 12 months.

Bottom line: most folks are happy with their Little Castle gliders, but if you have a problem, you are probably on your own for the repair bill. Rating: B