The Nature of Luxury Redefined


By chance or on purpose you have found an authentically good thing. Highland Craftsmen Inc is best known as "The Original Poplar Bark Shingle Siding Manufacturer" and designer of natural green building products. As rare as a US manufacturing company is today, HC is a company that does much more than just make and sell products.

We have designed this site so that you, the discerning client have all the tools needed to make informed decisions about your purchasing power. Our clients care about design aesthetic, product function, longevity, sustainability and a company’s social impact. You know the meaning of real value and you want quality without compromise.

Because there are vast differences between the manufacturing of wood sidings and our premiere product, Bark House brand shingle siding, we decided to get serious about how we express what we do. For years you have known the Bark House brand as the mark of distinction in all natural poplar bark shingle siding.  We begin everything we do with sound research and follow up with unwavering commitment to quality.  We created this industry and maintain ourselves as The Bark House Experts.  Third party certifications will allow you to clearly see what makes us so unique.

Lloyd Alter out of Toronto posts an article in the Design and Architecture section of Treehugger.com titled “Bark Shingles: If it Works For Trees, Why Not Houses.”

TreeHugger.com Materials MondayAlter writes:
“Humans only invented vinyl siding a few decades ago, but tree bark has been protecting trees for quite a while longer. Bark shingles were often used on Craftsman style houses in the early 1900s, but they were made from chestnut, which was almost wiped out in a blight. A century later, they still look good. Chris and Marty McCurry started looking at bark shingles in the early nineties and reinvented them, reintroducing them as a product in 1996.” [click to continue…]

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February 1 to 5 has been declared Clean Energy Week .

“The Primary Objective of Clean Energy Week is to engage Congress and the Administration to take action on climate solutions, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, which remain top priorities for the American people and are essential components of job creation and economic growth.” [click to continue…]

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High Country Businesses Unite for Haitian Disaster Relief

January 27, 2010

When disaster strikes, people in western North Carolina extend a helping hand.  It’s a part of the local culture.  M-Prints, a Watauga county business, has created t-shirts to benefit the American Red Cross Haitian Disaster Relief Fund.  Businesses across the high country are responding by selling them at their perspective locations.  The idea is that [...]

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Chris McCurry speaking on Sustainable Procurement

January 26, 2010

Chris McCurry speaking on Sustainable Procurement at High Country Alternative Agriculture Conference at Mayland Community College on February 2, 2010.  This event is coordinated through the NC Cooperative Extension.  For more information, see this brochure.
This discussion will include information on sustainable poplar bark shingle procurement and all natural posts.

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Highland Craftsmen Receives “Main Street” Initiative Funding

January 6, 2010

Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that more than $330,000 in federal Recovery Act funds have been awarded to eight North Carolina “Main Street” communities to help with energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives.  The grants are the first distribution of money from the North Carolina Energy Program for the state’s Main Street initiative.
“North Carolina continues [...]

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Highland Craftsmen Gets Nod as Cool Product from GreenBuild 2009

January 6, 2010

Alex Wilson of BuildGreen.com had this to say about HC’s Bark House Poplar Siding:
“MBDC had a booth focused on its Cradle to Cradle product certification, where it displayed Bark House, a residential siding made by Highland Craftsmen from the bark of the tulip tree (Leriodendron tulipifera), which is sometimes—incorrectly—referred to as a poplar. The bark, [...]

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Our Poplar Bark Shingles Featured on CSMonitor.com

December 31, 2009

Read about author/writer Nan Chase’s choice to build with Highland Craftsmen’s Poplar Bark Shingles: ” My own interest in building a bark house came while I was helping to write a book on the subject (“Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs From Nature,” with Chris McCurry).”  read the full article at csmonitor.com

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Highland Craftsmen Inc Honored as Green Innovator from NC Board of Science and Technology

November 24, 2009

Press Release – For Immediate Release
Highland Craftsmen Inc.’s sustainable products training receives Green Business Fund Award.
Spruce Pine, NC, November 24th, 2009 – Governor Bev Perdue issued an official press release last week at the Energy Policy Council meeting announcing the 2009 Round 2 Green Business Fund Awardees that included Highland Craftsmen Inc.

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Bark House in TechJournal South

November 20, 2009

Eighteen NC firms get stimulus money for green projects
November 20, 2009
RALEIGH, NC – Eighteen North Carolina companies will receive federal stimulus grants to spur development in green technology, Gov. Bev Perdue said Wednesday. 

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GoBlueRidge.net – Three Area Businesses Receive Grant Money to Continue Green Work – Constantly Updated High Country NC News Source

November 19, 2009

From GoBlueRidge.net
Written by Adam Hicks Thursday, November 19 2009
Small businesses in Watauga, Mitchell, and Catawba County were three of 18 that received grant money from the state to continue their work in green initiatives.

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