Our Family Farm
Hart-T-Tree Farms grows premium Fraser fir Christmas trees in the mountains of North Carolina and sells them at our Christmas tree lots in southeast Florida. Hart-T-Tree Farms is owned and operated by John and Kathy Chefas. Founded in 1976, Hart-T-Tree Farms originated in Hart, Michigan. In the mid-1980s, John and Kathy moved the main farming operation to Grassy Creek, North Carolina to grow Fraser fir Christmas trees.
Grassy Creek, North Carolina is located in Ashe County, in the northwest corner of the state on the Virginia border. Hart-T-Tree Farms retails its Christmas trees in the counties of Broward, Palm Beach, and Brevard, Florida. With almost 50 years of retail experience, John Chefas is an expert in the business. His attention to detail, knowledge of Christmas trees, and strong work ethic are unsurpassed.
Our History
John started selling Christmas trees when he was in grade school. John’s father, Spiros Chefas, sold Christmas trees outside the family home in Chicago, Illinois for over 50 years and when he was young, John was expected to help out!
Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, John ran his own tree lot on the northside of Chicago. When John and Kathy met in 1976, John had just purchased his first piece of property in Hart, Michigan to start growing his own Christmas trees. Hart-T-Tree Farms was born soon after over a deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza at a Lou Malnati’s on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.
A graduate of the University of Miami (where he played baseball), John and Kathy decided that Florida would be a much more hospitable place to sell Christmas trees — better winter weather! The retail operation moved to southeast Florida in 1980 and opened the first Christmas tree lot in Pompano Beach, Florida.
As the Fraser fir Christmas tree grew in popularity, John and Kathy relocated to Grassy Creek, North Carolina in 1986 to grow Fraser firs in their native mountain home.
Since 1980, Hart-T-Tree Farms has had Christmas tree lots in various counties and cities from Davie, Florida to Melbourne, Florida. At one point, we had Christmas tree lots on the west coast as well in the greater Tampa Bay area.
Our trees are also available at Gethsemane Garden Center in Chicago, Illinois. John’s older brother, Regas Chefas, owns and operates Gethsemane Garden Center. Gethsemane Garden Center is a beautiful and expansive garden center on the northside of Chicago — a few blocks from where John and his brothers and sisters (and his parents) went to high school.
Our Farm Today
Today, all of our Christmas tree lots are in southeast Florida in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Most of our lots are sponsored by a community partner and proceeds from the Christmas tree lots benefit them too.
Our Christmas tree lots are usually in the same locations year after year, but sometimes we have to move or close a Christmas tree lot for one reason or another. We post our lot locations each year on our website, so if you wonder where we’ll be this year, you can look and see by visiting our Christmas Tree Lots page.
Affiliations and Memberships
Hart-T-Tree Farms is a proud member of the following associations and organizations: National Christmas Tree Association, North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, Ashe County Christmas Tree Association, and Ashe County Chamber of Commerce. We also proudly support the Christmas Tree Promotion Board and the It’s Christmas.Keep It Real campaign.