Native Trails, a privately owned business based on the Central Coast of California, has been creating high quality, artisan crafted kitchen and bath fixtures and home décor for nearly 15 years.

Naomi Neilson Howard, the Founder and CEO of Native Trails, started the company with a dream to partner the stunning copper craftsmanship she found in her travels through Mexico with contemporary design and sustainable business practices. Her care for the earth led her to use recycled copper in each of the copper items Native Trails offers and also reclaimed wood in the Old World Vanities. “Sure, the bottom line is important,” says Naomi, “but what creates lasting value is providing a high quality, sustainable product and cultivating strong, long term relationships with our artisans and staff.” The company is proud that it supports and promotes craftsmanship traditions in its products. “We are very close to our artisans and their families,” states Naomi. “We sponsor their soccer teams; attend their family weddings and baptisms. We also provide loans and micro-finance for capital improvements so that they can grow and prosper with us. Growing together is a great part of the excitement of working with Native Trails!”

Artisan Crafted With Excellence

“Our artisans have been working with copper for generations,” notes Naomi, “but the designs we create are determinedly fresh and work beautifully with today’s well appointed home. This is the essence of ‘soft contemporary', which describes much of our design style. Our new, fresh designs work with many styles – traditional, cottage, modern, or rustic. Bringing warmth and texture through hand-hammered copper sinks or our reclaimed wood vanities is a really unique way to add the human touch to a room.” Some of the sinks, like the heavy 15-gauge Maestro Vessel, endure up to 30,000 strikes of the hammer to bring out the copper’s exquisite splendor.

Native Trails’ products are in touch not only with modern home design, but also with high standards of quality. The Native Trails quality control team is in the workshops daily, actively involved in quality control from the very moment when the copper arrives from the foundry. “Our products go through five stages of inspection after they are finished to ensure that they meet our strict standards,” says Naomi. “Of course, with handcrafted product, much of the beauty is in the variations that make each item completely individual. But while each product is unique, it is consistently exceptional in its quality.” Native Trails was the first company to have its copper sinks certified by the UPC and listed by IAPMO where they assisted in writing the copper basin standards.

Customer Care and Local Service

Native Trails takes customer service very seriously. “Our customer service philosophy and practices directly stem from our core values,” states Naomi. “We try to anticipate problems before they can occur. We make every possible effort to identify our customers’ needs and fulfill them. We found out early on how much our customers value that we ship 99% of orders within 24-48 hours and that we keep our products stocked, on the shelf and ready to ship. Plus, we enjoy people, so we enjoy our customers. That is something intangible that happens naturally.”

Native Trails is also very careful at choosing their partner showrooms so that each product is sold by a reputable Kitchen and Bath showroom. “We have worked hard to build a system of partners throughout the U.S. and Canada that have the same passion for the customer as we do,” Naomi notes. “We stand behind our products and the showroom partners that carry them.”

At Native Trails, Passion is Contagious

Sparked by Naomi, passion for the company spreads to every employee and from employees to customers. Her formula of success hasn't changed. "Our team is passionate about the company and its work, and I believe this is the key to success in business." The results have exceeded all expectations: Native Trails has become one of the leading manufacturers of handcrafted bath and kitchen products.