The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Retired psychiatric nurse Barbara Hartsfield opened the Collectible and Antique Chair Gallery in Stone Mountain, Georgia, featuring thousands of decorative miniature chairs. Hartsfield began her collection roughly 35 to 40 years ago after buying a small chair to help inspire an academic article she was writing.
“About 35 years ago. And I did not plan this at all. I was working as a psychiatric nurse and I was really interested in pregnant mothers who had mental illness.”
“So once the article was published in 1990, I decided to start. Collect chairs are hot on the weekend. Just here and there.”