About Our Family

CHRIS AND AMY

College sweethearts who tied the knot 31 years ago, Amy and Chris Hart opened The Hare & The Hart after an inspirational trip to the Cotswolds and London in 2016. They have continued to travel to different places in the UK and all over the South to seek inspiration for design and product ideas.

AMY Owner and Co-founder

Designer: Toile of Thomasville™, Toile of Tallahassee©, & Toile of FSU™

One of Amy Hart’s favorite quotes is the English designer William Morris’ rule of thumb: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”… but Amy adds that she prefers things in her home to be both useful AND beautiful! Amy views her shop as an extension of her home and gladly welcomes all who enter to explore the carefully curated gifts and goods. She adores learning her customers’ stories as she witnesses them excitedly experience the places depicted in her toile designs.

As a military brat, she savored growing up all over the US and in Europe, landing in Tallahassee in 1987 to attend Florida State University and later lived there for the better part of two decades. Amy has now replanted roots in (and fallen in love with) her new town of Thomasville. A former teacher, she is a passionate reader, curious cook, dauntless decorator, faithful friend, self-admitted Anglophile, wife and BFF to Chris, and proud mother of Maddie and Charlie.

CHRIS Co-founder

Following a nearly 30-year career in public service that began as an intern to a Florida State Senator in 1989 while studying Political Science at Florida State University and, ultimately, leading to serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives and a short-tenure as Florida’s Secretary of Commerce, Chris Hart IV is now the CEO of Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers and CiviTek. His lifelong dream, however, is being realized through The Hare & The Hart, the business venture he co-founded with Amy.

MADDIE

Co-founder

Designer: Menagerie and Literary Quotes collections

Online Store Manager

Maddie Hart is a native Floridian, artist, and Hart family member. She recently moved back from Asheville, NC (where she served as a Historic Interpreter at Biltmore Estate). Prior to that, after graduating with a degree in Art History and Museum Studies from Florida State University, she had the pleasure of opening The Hare & The Hart with her family and is thrilled to be back.

Using watercolor, colored pencil, and pen and ink she strives to create wildlife portraits that inspire an appreciation for nature, along with some whimsy. In her free time Maddie loves hanging out with her pets, exploring the outdoors, reading, and listening to podcasts.

 

 

CHARLIE

Designer: Birds & Bees collection

Shopkeeper

Charlie Hart is a Florida native, long-time Tallahassean, and designer who has worked alongside his family at The Hare & The Hart. He developed a passion for the arts and the outdoors when he was very young, and these interests have remained with him.

Charlie recently graduated with a BA in Studio Art from Florida State University, where he now works. He continues to pursue design and illustration on the side. As an avid rock climber who travels across the country for his sport, new concepts for drawings and illustrations are never out of reach for him. He is dedicated to presenting unique pen and ink drawings that are influenced by his love of the outdoors, as demonstrated on his Birds & Bees line of products.