About Rifton

Our History

Rifton began in 1977 as an offshoot of Community Playthings, a leading manufacturer of furniture and equipment for early childhood settings. When our designers paid a neighborly visit to a Connecticut home for children with disabilities, a therapist asked if they could custom-build a chair for one of their residents.

In the next months similar requests trickled in, and before long designers and workers at Community Playthings were dreaming about an entirely different and new line of equipment. And so Rifton Equipment began.

Those same early years saw a growing sensitivity in society to people with special needs. Americans increasingly recognized every person’s right to be treated with dignity and respect. At Rifton, we believe people with disabilities deserve our best.