About Us

Welcome to the Forge at Pleasant Valley Farm!  We are located on a historic family farm in Tionesta, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from the Allegheny National Forest and in the heart of the PA Wilds region.  We are a husband and wife team of makers.

Dan and Emily Stevenson, the husband and wife makers of the Forge at Pleasant Valley Farm.
Dan is an authentic blacksmith.  Our farm was known years ago for blacksmithing and he is proud to carry on that tradition. The original forge, built in the 1880's, still stands but is not fire resistant enough to serve as the current workspace.  Some of the original elements have been moved to the new forge building that overlooks the historic one. Dan makes hand forged items in the traditional style, heating metal and shaping it on the anvil with a variety of hand tools.  Each piece he creates is a unique piece of American craftsmanship.
In addition to the items listed here, Dan is always happy to customize current creations or make something custom from your design. For completely custom items, we require a sketch or photo os something similar 

Dan has been building things most of his life and has extensive experience in masonry and general contracting and is also a self-taught mechanic.  He has been farming his entire life, and has always preferred working with a team of horses in the fields over a tractor.  He has a passion for restoring old equipment to working condition- from horse drawn farm equipment to motors and more.  If he isn't farming, fixing or building things, you can find Dan at an auction, backcountry camping, or cycling historic trails like the Great Allegheny Passage or the C & O Canal.

 Emily is the seamstress producing the aprons, rice bags and other items on her Singer sewing machine.  She carries on a family tradition,  as her mother was an accomplished seamstress herself, who even sewed her own wedding dress at the age of nineteen! Emily creates the jewelry and cares for the peacocks that live here and provide the feathers for some of our items. 

Emily & Dan both enjoy attending local auctions and browsing flea markets and antique stores for vintage finds. Emily is an avid Griswold collector, as the farm is just 60 miles from where the foundry once stood. We professionally restore a variety of cast iron pieces that are available here.  

 

The Forge building sits at the top of a small hill. It is summer and the surrounding field is full of blooming chamomile. There are several Dexter cows, black with while horns, standing near the building and laying in the chamomile.

The blacksmith shop is surrounded by blooming chamomile each year.  Shown are some of our herd of registered Dexter cattle, a heritage breed.

 Pleasant Valley Farm is where our products are made and where we call home. We steward a number of varieties of heritage breed livestock, old-time breeds in literal danger of extinction. Currently, we breed Dexter cattle, Katahdin sheep, Barred Rock, Delaware, Black Copper Maran, and Gold Laced Polish chickens, Cayuga and Khaki Campbell ducks, Bourbon Red and Narragansett turkeys, and Silver Fox rabbits plus non-heritage pigs, quail and peacocks. We no longer breed Belgian horses, but still use a mother-daughter team born here to help us in the fields. We have live poultry available each spring, and other livestock periodically available for purchase to help others raise these wonderful breeds. For more information on our family farm, please check out our website for more information. 

Emily has always enjoyed writing and educating folks about agriculture.  When active, she was the most read blogger on both the Local Harvest and Homestead Hustle platforms.  She was one of the original bloggers hand selected by the folks at Mother Earth News to kick off the Homestead Hustle project.  She has also presented at events such as Pittsburgh's Farm to Table conference, the annual meeting of the national non-profit The Livestock Conservancy, and locally for groups like the Lions Club, YWCA, and Penn State Extension's Master Gardeners.  

Our social media showcases both the products we offer here at The Forge at Pleasant Valley Farm as well as scenic shots of our fields and gardens and the animals who call the farm home. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates!  We also love to see where our products end up, so feel free to tag @pleasantvalleyfarmpa on FB , on IG tag @pleasantvalleyfarm or hashtag #forgeatpleasantvalley.  We periodically feature customer photos, so be sure to tag us!

 

The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania Juried Artisan

We became members of The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania in 2021. The Wilds Cooperative is a network of people, businesses, organizations and agencies promoting products and place-based experiences made in the PA Wilds region.  We applied for a jury review of our work and have been accepted as a professional, juried artisan business.  For more information or to check out more of what the PA Wilds has to offer, visit wildscopa.org.