About The Lamport House...
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| Copyright 2010 ~ The Lamport House Website design by Kara Lamport |
Owned & operated by Mother/Daughter Duo Karen Lamport & Kara Lamport, The Lamport House is located in rural Hecla,
South Dakota. Karen and Kara are the two artists that hand-paint and/or hand-design each piece.
Stemming from a love of the Victorian Era, The Lamport House China Shoppe features fine porcelain china, replicated after fine
vintage pieces from a time gone by.
The Lamport House's "Short Story":
For many years, Karen's mother, Caroline was a "snowbird", spending time with her husband in Arizona during the chilly South
Dakota winter months. There, she took up the art of china painting. She purchased her own kiln, supplies, and extended her
hobby year-round while she was back home in South Dakota. Caroline would spend many hours painting decorative plates,
large place setting china collections, jewelry boxes, torte trays, etc. She would display her pieces proudly on her walls, mantle,
and in her china closet and would also give items away as gifts.
Eager to learn to work with the new medium, Karen and Kara each picked up a brush and started mixing paints, creating their
own personal pieces of china. After others noticed the completed pieces, inquiries to purchase Karen and Kara's items were
made. The Lamport House as a business was naturally starting to evolve for the mother and daughter team.
Since then, Karen and Kara spent many hours learning new practices and design options for painting china. Along with the
painting, the ladies from The Lamport House also had to learn the in's and out's of running a wholesale/retail business;
acquiring national sales representatives, organized bookkeeping practices, budgeting, and marketing.
Over the years, The Lamport House's china has reached all across the United States, Canada and even overseas. Oprah
Winfrey, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Regis & Kelly, and other well-known celebrities own
some of LH's pieces.
Running a home-based non-storefront business in rural South Dakota is quite phenomenal to Karen and Kara. Karen often
notes that it is "amazing that all of this can be done working from a little town of 300 [people]!"
Karen and Kara hope to continue to grow their business and continue to expand their clientele base, both from a wholesale
perspective as well as the single consumer, via the Internet (see Amazon.com for more of their work).
~~~~~~~~~~
Karen resides in Hecla, living in The Lamport House, where she also runs the home as a Guest Inn. Her love of the small
town atmosphere and close family and friends who live in the area keep Karen's roots planted deeply in the charming South
Dakota community. When Karen has free time, she enjoys socializing and making new friends, playing cards, decorating, and
just enjoying life.
Kara and her "Better Half" Eric recently purchased a home on Richmond Lake near Aberdeen, SD. Apart from painting china
(for Kara) and while not working their regular career jobs (Kara is a Project Manager for a communications company and Eric is
Detective Sergeant for the Aberdeen Police Department), they spend much of their time on home renovations, shooting pool,
fishing, and reveling in the beautiful scenery that surrounds them, taking pleasure in lake life.
South Dakota. Karen and Kara are the two artists that hand-paint and/or hand-design each piece.
Stemming from a love of the Victorian Era, The Lamport House China Shoppe features fine porcelain china, replicated after fine
vintage pieces from a time gone by.
The Lamport House's "Short Story":
For many years, Karen's mother, Caroline was a "snowbird", spending time with her husband in Arizona during the chilly South
Dakota winter months. There, she took up the art of china painting. She purchased her own kiln, supplies, and extended her
hobby year-round while she was back home in South Dakota. Caroline would spend many hours painting decorative plates,
large place setting china collections, jewelry boxes, torte trays, etc. She would display her pieces proudly on her walls, mantle,
and in her china closet and would also give items away as gifts.
Eager to learn to work with the new medium, Karen and Kara each picked up a brush and started mixing paints, creating their
own personal pieces of china. After others noticed the completed pieces, inquiries to purchase Karen and Kara's items were
made. The Lamport House as a business was naturally starting to evolve for the mother and daughter team.
Since then, Karen and Kara spent many hours learning new practices and design options for painting china. Along with the
painting, the ladies from The Lamport House also had to learn the in's and out's of running a wholesale/retail business;
acquiring national sales representatives, organized bookkeeping practices, budgeting, and marketing.
Over the years, The Lamport House's china has reached all across the United States, Canada and even overseas. Oprah
Winfrey, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Regis & Kelly, and other well-known celebrities own
some of LH's pieces.
Running a home-based non-storefront business in rural South Dakota is quite phenomenal to Karen and Kara. Karen often
notes that it is "amazing that all of this can be done working from a little town of 300 [people]!"
Karen and Kara hope to continue to grow their business and continue to expand their clientele base, both from a wholesale
perspective as well as the single consumer, via the Internet (see Amazon.com for more of their work).
~~~~~~~~~~
Karen resides in Hecla, living in The Lamport House, where she also runs the home as a Guest Inn. Her love of the small
town atmosphere and close family and friends who live in the area keep Karen's roots planted deeply in the charming South
Dakota community. When Karen has free time, she enjoys socializing and making new friends, playing cards, decorating, and
just enjoying life.
Kara and her "Better Half" Eric recently purchased a home on Richmond Lake near Aberdeen, SD. Apart from painting china
(for Kara) and while not working their regular career jobs (Kara is a Project Manager for a communications company and Eric is
Detective Sergeant for the Aberdeen Police Department), they spend much of their time on home renovations, shooting pool,
fishing, and reveling in the beautiful scenery that surrounds them, taking pleasure in lake life.
Kara
Karen