Where It All Started
Bob & Dottie Long
Founders
Bob and Dottie Long came to New Hampshire to slow down. They built a log cabin here back in the '80s, and though life moved the family all over the country, they always found their way back to it for vacations and get-togethers. So when the time came to pseudo-retire, the cabin was the obvious place. And when Bob walked into the old Woodsville Stove Shop looking for a fireplace to make the cabin a bit cozier, he got to talking with the owner. By the end of that chance meeting, he had bought more than just a new fireplace.
That was 2003. Dottie, working full time as a registered nurse caring for the elderly, still found hours to answer phones and help in the office in those early years. Soon after, daughter Cindy and son-in-law Mike moved up to join the business, and son Dave began splitting time before coming aboard full time. In 2006 the family moved the shop and established Fireside Hearth & Leisure.
The story starts in 2003
Terrible at Retiring
Within a few years, Bob stepped away from the business entirely, but retirement never quite took. He still builds homes and stays deeply involved in the community. Today the whole family lives close by: their kids, spouses, and five grandsons, all in the same community, and Bob and Dottie couldn't be happier. To those five boys, and most of us, they're simply Mimi & Pa.
The man who came in to buy one fireplace ended up starting a second-generation family business that's still going strong 23 years later.
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