In 2007, Hestia Inc. was created for the sole purpose of acquiring American Panel, Inc. This acquisition was completed in June of 2007. Hestia, the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home, seemed a fitting name for the operating company. This idea was provided by our son, who was working his way through 8th-grade Mythology at the time. The name American Panel, Inc. soon changed to American Panel Hearth Products to more closely align our name with our product line. American Panel Hearth Products started in Western Montana in 1979 and moved to Michigan in 2000. We currently have our facilities in Grand Haven, Michigan.
We have made many changes and survived many challenges over the years and feel very proud of our accomplishments. One of our first significant changes was the process of building hearth pads. Previously, they were built using particle board as the substrate. Particleboard is a non-stable combustible material. So changing our substrate to a non-combustible material was done as quickly as possible. This also coincided with an update in Subject 1618 to Standard 1618 – which unfortunately still allows for a combustible substrate in Type 1 hearth pads, which some hearth pad manufacturers continue to use – we do not.
Hestia Inc. acquired Hearth Classics, aka Yoder Stove & Supply, late in 2013. Hearth Classics is located just outside of Portland, Oregon, in the city of Sandy, at the base of Mt. Hood. Yoder Stove & Supply started manufacturing hearth pads in 1976 and is the oldest hearth pad company in America.