About Mountain Laurel Handrails
Mountain Laurel Handrails didn’t start as a brand or a catalog of products. It started as hands-on craftsmanship in the mountains of Western North Carolina, building railings that looked like they naturally belonged in the landscape, not just attached to it.
Before the company had a name, owner James Pader was already creating one-of-a-kind rustic railings for custom homes in the Highlands and Cashiers area. Those early projects shaped the style, standards, and approach that still guide every railing built today.
The earliest days: Winter 2004
One of the first mountain laurel handrails ever built by James Pader was installed sometime in the winter of 2004. While working as a carpenter on custom homes in Western North Carolina, he built about 70 feet of railing for a covered bridge over a small stream. The home itself likely included another 140 linear feet of railing, along a long breezeway from the driveway to the main entrance and continuing onto the rear porch.
This was the kind of project that established what Mountain Laurel Handrails would later become: railings designed to match the character of the home, built to stand up to the elements, and crafted with an eye for natural detail.
Hundreds of Handrails and materials shipped nationwide
From local builds to nationwide shipments
In 2009, photos of our deck railing projects were shared online.
In the spring of 2010, an inquiry came in that changed the trajectory of the work. Within weeks, the first national shipment left Franklin, North Carolina and traveled all the way to Washington State, about 80 feet of handrail shipped across the country.
A few months later, another order shipped to Missouri. By the end of 2010, Mountain Laurel Handrails shifted from occasional custom requests into a dedicated focus, serving homeowners, builders, and designers who wanted rustic railings with real craftsmanship behind them.
20 years later…
Mountain Laurel Handrails is built on the same foundation as those first projects in 2004: natural materials, careful design, and craftsmanship that respects both the home and the landscape around it.
Since then, the work has evolved dramatically. Today, we’ve refined our process through years of building, shipping, and customizing, opening up thousands of design possibilities across styles, finishes, and color options. No two projects are ever the same, because every railing is shaped around the home it belongs to, crafted as a functional, one-of-a-kind piece of art that’s made to last for years.
