Dorothy Waterhouse’s interest in historic wallpapers started as hobby in the 1930's when she collected samples of old wallpapers when visiting historic New England houses. Many of these dated back to 18th & 19th Century and had been imported from England, France and the Orient as wallpaper became very fashionable in the houses of the well to do in the up and coming society of Eastern America. She was eventually persuaded to form a collection and reproduce many of the designs commercially. They were a great success but Dorothy retired in 1977 and the company has now been revived and today still produces many of her original discoveries.

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Under the same umbrella are Inez Croom & Thomas Strahan. Inez Croom, an interior designer of note, founded her wallpaper company in the 1940s. Thomas Strahan started by importing wallpapers from Europe and is one of the oldest American wallpaper companies founded in 1866.  Today the three companies flourish, helped by the current surge of interest in wallpaper.