The style caught on quickly in America, which was experiencing its own version of Victorian excess. Craftsmen designed sturdy furniture that had simple lines and was easily manufactured. They believed that handcrafted home furnishings could help reestablish pride in workmanship. Gustav Stickley, along with his brothers Leopold and John George, were pioneers in American mission furniture making, and the Stickley company still manufactures Mission furniture today. Elbert Hubbard and his Roycroft Society also made its mark in Mission as did the off-shoot Prairie school in Chicago, whose most famous member was Frank Lloyd Wright.
Mission furniture is bound by straight lines.
The Mission sofa has a rectangular box frame, and its high back and sides have even, generously spaced, wide wooden slats that rest on a platform of smaller horizontal slats. Canvas, leather and simply-patterned upholstery cloth is used to cover Mission style chairs and sofas. Mission furniture is also characterized by its exposed joints and wooden pegs, which emphasize the maker's craftsmanship. Wrought iron may be integrated with the wood, shedding light on the utility of the piece. The style remained a dominant force until the 1930s, when Art Deco and other modern trends radically changed interior design.