in 1946, john tarrant kenney came upon the abandoned hitchcock chair factory while fishing on the farmington river. he wrote a biography, "the hitchcock chair", and started a new hitchcock chair company in the same location. that business lasted until 2006, when it was forced to close due to competition from low-cost overseas furniture manufacturers. in the spring of 2010, rick swenson and his business partner, gary hath, purchased the hitchcock name, plans, and artwork, and began producing chairs.