Our Story: The History of Long Home Products
Long Home Products is recognized as a leader in home improvement throughout the East Coast. We’ve helped countless families enjoy safer, comfortable, more beautiful homes. Our business was built on the idea that the right products, outstanding craftsmanship and genuine respect for the customer would translate to success. That idea continues to be proven correct every single day.
A family business
Our story begins in 1945, when Henry “Tots” Long launched Long’s Fence Co. at the corner of 18th St. NE and Rhode Island in Washington, D.C. — not far from the United States National Arboretum. The company’s first office? A decommissioned city bus. It was a modest start, but set in motion the events that would lead to decades of success.
Henry’s son, Robert, wrapped up a stint in the U.S. Merchant Marines in 1948. He returned to the DC neighborhood to join the family business he had supported with his service pay.
Robert was driven and had ambitious plans for Long’s Fence Co. In 1961, he bought the family business from his father and transformed the small but successful venture into a thriving regional operation. The business continued to grow to become a household name for fencing in and around the D.C. area.
The company began to flourish under its new owner. The name was changed to Long Fence®. The company became a national presence in residential and commercial fencing. You can’t go too far in the DC Metro area and not see quality fencing with that familiar blue and white fence sign. They are everywhere!
Expanding into the home
John DePaola joined Long Fence as the manager of the ornamental iron division in the mid-1980s. He moved into the installation department, was promoted to the position of general manager of automatic gate openers. In less than a decade, John was named vice president of business development.
Mr. Long knew the company had a strong foundation. With nearly 50 years of brand equity built as a fence company, Mr. Long made the exciting decision to establish a home products division. The opportunity was given to John and he rolled out a new Long brand, Long Windows®.
In 1994, the home products division was renamed Long Fence and Home®. Within two years, Long Fence and Home had shown enough promise to branch off into a separate company. After the launch of Long Windows more new brands were established – Long Doors®, Long Siding®, Long Roofing® and Long Baths® – followed.
“We love pleasing our customers” John says. “Everyone works hard to get all the kinks out of the process. Our team is perfecting the sales, delivery, fulfillment and customer service processes.” We really strive hard so that what is usually a stressful project is actually enjoyable for the customer.
After experiencing strong success in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and the Northern Virginia markets, in 2018 the company expanded further into New England. Additional regions are soon to follow.
Our story continues
To accommodate its growing venue of quality products for the home, Long Fence and Home now advertises as Long Home Products. The company has a dedicated staff of product specialists who work diligently to assist homeowners from Virginia to New England. We also have a team of client service representatives who continue to support our customers long after the product is installed.
Many generations of the Long family are still involved in the day-to-day operation of the business. Jill Long DePaola — Robert’s daughter and John’s wife — serves as Chief Brand Officer, ensuring that the company’s mission and vision are accurately represented in the community and shared with all Long customers. John and Jill’s children, John DePaola Jr. and Katie DePaola Silverman, also play very hands-on roles: John Jr. is the Director of Marketing, while Katie acts as a spokesperson for the company.
Homeowners continue to love the LONG brand
Long Home Products carries a 4.5-out-of-5-star rating on GuildQuality.com based on over 5,000 real customer reviews, earning Guildmaster status for the company.
The values of quality materials, professional installation and a customer-first approach to business remain unchanged after more than 75 years of home improvement work.
Carrying on a Legacy of Service
Our mission is to work hard every day to build trust and peace of mind using state of the art solutions to enrich lives for years to come. It’s what everyone at LONG lives by and what we strive towards with everything that we do.
Our goal is to be the most trusted name in home improvement — a goal that doesn’t come easy. But we’re determined. By doing right by our customers and giving them the best quality products with the best quality service and the very best warranties, we are prepared to serve future generations of LONG home improvement excellence.
As we work to follow our core values of integrity, passion, respect and creativity, we will continue to grow the legacy that Henry “Tots” and Robert Long started way back in 1945.