In October 1985, Norma and Mike Delano opened The Country House in Snow Hill, Maryland. Mike was a former agricultural fertilizer salesman, and Norma was a second grade teacher. Norma quit teaching in 1972 to be a "Mom" to Christy and Jenny. Norma painted and sewed crafts more as the girls got older. Mike and Norma did craft shows each year. The idea of opening a store to show their handmade products as well as decorating items not available in the area came together when they opened The Country House in Snow Hill. Because of a great response at the Snow Hill store, they moved to a larger place in Salisbury, MD. After another year, they doubled that space to 5,000 sq. feet. Then after 3 years, they bought the current location, which is a 48,000 sq. foot building. It was originally built in the 1930's to be a shirt factory. It needed major repair. The family, including grandparents, plus several carpenter friends did a lot of work to prepare it to be a store. In the early 2000's, The Country House Collection had an opportunity to develop some fabric curtains and linens, to be made in India. Christy and Jenny worked along with Norma and Mike to build this collection, which now includes a broad selection of metal pieces and other household goods. For many years, The Country House produced retail catalogs 5 times a year. Now, their full line can be seen on their website.
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