Free furniture is perfect for kids! Do keep the upholstery covered while the kids are little. Perhaps use a tablecloth (vinyl type) or placemats, or have a table pad made. This set should hold up better than any cheap set.

Consider removing the wheels and/or putting down a (inexpensive hose-offable) rug to save your floor. The wheels and extra arm chairs make me wonder if there was a game table involved at some point...

Pretty great find, ya know? I think it's from the 70s/80s and "Artefacts" is the name of the line. I don't know if it has any resale value because it's not quite trendy right now. But it's classy in a that subtle way that makes it always good.

If you like it, keep it, and look out for a matching china cabinet or buffet from the set--Henredon had some spectacular case goods in that era.

Absolutely use it.

Since the upholstery is white, it will get dirty. But it is relatively inexpensive to reupholster those kinds of seats.

The other issue would be the table top since it is wood? How do you plan to use this? Are you kids going to be working on it? Eating from it every day? Or is it in a formal dining room so that it isn't used every day.

If you plan to use it every day you should probably get the old fashioned pads that were used in the past to protect the surface and then a table cloth would be put over the pads. It protects from scratches, spills and heat. Typically those would be used with linen table cloths but with kids you could use plastic as they now make attractive ones and these can be wiped cleaned as well as protecting the surface.

You could also get what is known as a bar finish on the table top. My mother had this done. It provides much more protection for the wood finish than a standard wood finish but still might not be completely safe with very young kids.

I would keep it as well. My parents still have a lovely oak dining table that we used as a family when my brother and I were toddlers. I believe my parents usually had some kind of pad plus a table cloth on top. Sometimes placemats on top of that. I also think they reupholstered the dining chairs after we were a little older. Honestly, I think it's never too early to teach table manners and a good sturdy table with a little protection against accidental spills should work just fine. I've had my nephew and niece at around the same age as your kids now sit at my mahogany dining table. I put two table cloths down and some rugs underneath their chairs in case of spills. I think a little bit of padding and maybe some moisture protection against spills and the table should work just fine.

Thanks for all of the great advice! I will definitely keep it. It’s our only dining table so it does get a lot of use. I have replacement feet for the casters being shipped, too. We’ve already almost lost several toes from the joy of pushing chairs everywhere 😊 I have noticed water rings that go away quickly with wet glasses so I’ll use a tablecloth, too. Thanks again!

WOW! I’m so jealous, what an amazing set! 😍

Quite a score! Keep it.  Use it.

Thank you! I nearly drove off the road when I saw it sitting there. Just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Beautiful set! Yes Keep it and enjoy it.
Since the children are little, look for a fitted table cloth. They come in all sorts of sizes and patterns. They are usually vinyl. So easy to clean.
Children tend to pull table cloths and everything on it to the floor.

Wow! I’m jealous. Awesome set. It’s an opportunity to teach your kids to respect nice furniture. Or any furniture, I’ve said this before, but our dining table is almost 150 years old. It’s survived my kids, me and my brother, my mom and her cousins and aunts and uncles, etc. all the way back to my great grandfather’s grandmother. It was refinished once in all those years. Everyone who sat at it knew it was a privilege to do so. Give them big placemats. There are upholstery protectants you can spray on or you can just put a towel down for the messier kids. I would only be concerned about the wheels, but if it’s on a rug it’s less of an issue. Enjoy the set, it’s gorgeous.

My aunt gave me a beautiful vintage dining room set when my oldest child was a baby. For more than twenty years we used it every day for breakfast lunch and dinner. I always kept a pad and tablecloth on it and was careful to use trivets religiously. When I passed it on to an eager young family it was still in excellent condition.

My advice -- use it and enjoy it and don't worry for one minute about damaging it. Let it be the place your children fondly remember celebrating special occasions and every day life. It's beautiful!

My parents had something almost identical back in the 70’s, I think it was Henredon, my mother called it a ”game table”. Her’s had casters also. It was probably high quality since all of their furniture was high end.

I don't think the wheels are original. My mother had a set like this complete with cane back chairs and the bottom of the chair feet had rounded wood balls and not metal casters. Very standard dining room chair construction.

You should definitely invest in the old fashioned table pads to protect the surface if you are using it with kids every day. They provide protection from heat, moisture, scratches. You would then put an attractive plastic table cloth over that can be wiped clean

An example but you provide measurements and configuration and the companies do custom pads.

those casters are so totally game table, not dining, right? But they check out:

@Fori My mother's dining room chairs are almost identical. I think the same "pecan" finish even. I guess you could buy two sets of gaming tables (usually they are a set of 4) and use as dining tables.

Dining room chairs don't typically have wheels though. The problem with wheeled chairs in an open space is that they can go out of control :-)

Wow, you all are amazing at finding out info! Fori, how on earth did you find that picture?!

It all makes perfect sense. Unfortunately we’re on our 4th set of attempted feet replacements and still no luck. I suppose I could have the caster holes filled and drill new ones in order to find a perfect fit but I’m not giving up yet!

My children will be devastated when the wheels are gone 🤣

Something like the feet on their actual dining chairs would be perfect! The chairs are quite short with the casters removed.