What it is

William Holland School of Lapidary Arts is a week-long residential lapidary and jewelry-arts teaching facility in Young Harris, Georgia (North Georgia mountains). The official home and Classes pages describe hands-on instruction for beginners through advanced students in cabochon cutting, faceting, silversmithing, wire wrapping, enameling, glass arts, casting, opals, metal clay, and dozens of related media — taught by experienced instructors, with on-site lodging and meals. Our History: named for William Holland (third president of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies); founded when Harold C. and Mary Lou Sparks sought a mountain-top retreat to teach and preserve lapidary craft. It is not a jewelry retail storefront and not a local membership gem club with monthly meetings as its primary identity.

Who it’s for

Adults (and approved youth with adult sponsors) who want immersive week-long or weekend workshops in lapidary and related arts; students seeking shared or private lodge lodging, RV camping, or commuter tuition packages; returning artisans refining cabochons, faceting, silver, wire, glass, or mixed-metal work; and families using Junior Rockhounds / Junior Jewelers tracks (Policies: ages 8+, adult sponsor enrolled the same week). Policies: students under 18 need instructor and staff approval and must be accompanied by an adult 21+ on campus. Season framing on Policies: class season roughly April through October; off-season November through March is renovation / prep (visitors by appointment only in season; Thursday Night Show and Tell encouraged).

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party lapidary workshop school with a printed Lapidary Lane campus address, a published Classes curriculum catalog, official 2026 tuition / lodging rate table, lodging building inventory, Policies check-in rules, and a first-party 2026 Class Schedule PDF — not a scraped directory card and not Amazon / jewelry-mall retail.

Campus / contact (checked 2026-09-16): 230 Lapidary Lane, Young Harris, GA 30582; phone (706) 379-2126. Office hours printed on Policies for early-arrival arrangements: Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Classes curriculum (Classes page — checked today): subject catalog includes Basketry; Beading / Seed Beading; Black Coral Jewelry; Cabochons; Casting; Chain; Chasing & Repoussé; Cold Connection; Enameling; Electro-Etching; Fabric Dying; Faceting; Flame Painting; Fold Forming; Gem Trees; Wire / Wire Weaving; Glass Fusing; Gold; Intarsia; Junior Rockhounds; Kaleidoscopes; Kumihimo; Lampwork Beads; Leatherwork; Metal Clay; Mineral Identification; Mixed Metals – Surface Design; Opals; Polymer Clay; Silver; Soft Soldering; Stained Glass — among others. Online registration portal linked as lapidaryschool.jumbula.com (“View Classes/Register”).
Week-long tuition & lodging packages (Pricing — checked today; Master and Weekend priced separately): Private Lodging $920 / week (tuition, private room, double bed, private bathroom, all meals, WiFi); Shared Lodging $675 / week (tuition, shared lodging, double/twin, shared bathroom, all meals, WiFi); RV Camping $445 / week per student (tuition, full RV hook-ups, 40 ft sites, shower/bath house, Sunday dinner + drinks/lunches, WiFi); Commuter $325 / week (tuition, Sunday dinner, drinks/lunches; meal plan available). Weekend classes: $100 plus $60 lodging (lodging waived if enrolled in a week-long class the week before or after). Master Class lodging add-ons: Shared $425; Private $670; Commuter $100; Camping $195 (Master tuition varies by instructor). Optional meal plans: Commuter/Camper $150; Guest (non-student) $225. Individual meals: Breakfast $14 / Lunch $17 / Dinner $20; Special Diet Admin Fee $15. Consumables Fee $21 on higher-wear lapidary classes. Deposit $100 (non-refundable per Pricing/Policies rules); transfer fee $50 same-year; cancellation fees $100 / $150 (week) or $50 (weekend) as printed.
Lodging plant (Lodging / Our History — checked today): Sparks Lodge — 29 top-floor rooms + 13 ground-floor classrooms and dining (elevator / handicap rooms; double + twin + private bath); Otto’s Lodge — ~23 double-occupancy rooms with private baths; Mary Lou’s Cottage — 8 private instructor rooms; Seabolt Building (library, lampwork, photo, rock room, campground showers); Learning Center, Campground Classroom, Glass Barn; ten-site full-hook-up campground.
2026 Class Schedule (Forms → “2026 Class Schedule” PDF, July 20, 2026 revision — checked today): numbered medium/week columns with start dates including 7/19/2026 (week 16) through 10/25/2026 (week 30). Sample media rows on those sheets: Cabochons, Advanced Cabochons, Faceting, Silver, Wire Wrapping / Wire Weaving, Opals, Intarsia/Lapidary, Lampwork Beads, Metal Clay, Mixed Metals / Surface Design, Casting, Chain, Enameling, Glass Arts, Basketry, Beading, Jr. Rockhounds/Jewelers, Master Classes. Check-in (Policies): Sunday 3:00–5:00 p.m. registration; New Student Orientation 5:15 p.m. Sunday; lodge checkout Friday 4:00 p.m. (late checkout Saturday 9:00 a.m. for $20).

Tuition packages, consumable/cancellation fees, lodging inventory, and 2026 week dates above are what the official pages and Forms PDF showed on the check date. Catalog seats and instructor assignments change. Use the live Pricing, Classes, Forms schedule PDF, and Jumbula registration before treating any figure or seat as fixed.

Official URL

https://lapidaryschool.org/

Classes (curriculum catalog): https://lapidaryschool.org/classes/

Pricing (tuition & lodging rates): https://lapidaryschool.org/pricing/

Lodging: https://lapidaryschool.org/lodging/

Policies (check-in, deposits, season, youth): https://lapidaryschool.org/policies/

Forms (2026 schedule & registration PDFs): https://lapidaryschool.org/forms/

2026 Class Schedule PDF (July 20 revision): https://lapidaryschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/July-20-Revised-WH-Schedule-of-Classes.pdf

Our History: https://lapidaryschool.org/our-history/

Online registration portal: https://lapidaryschool.jumbula.com/

Location

William Holland School of Lapidary Arts — 230 Lapidary Lane, Young Harris, GA 30582. Phone (706) 379-2126. North Georgia mountains campus with Sparks Lodge classrooms/dining, Otto’s Lodge, Mary Lou’s Cottage, Seabolt Building, additional classroom buildings, and RV campground.

This is a residential workshop / class campus address, not a jewelry retail counter and not a monthly gem-club meeting hall.

Notes

Category is Workshops. Teaching facility with week-long (and weekend) class curriculum, on-site lodging/meals, and published tuition packages. Not a Clubs membership gem society and not a Suppliers equipment/rough shop.
Week package dollars ($920 / $675 / $445 / $325), weekend $100+$60, Master lodging add-ons, $21 consumables fee, and late-2026 week numbers from the July 20 revised schedule PDF are transcribed from official pages checked on 2026-09-16 and may change.
First-party logo saved beside this listing as william-holland-school-of-lapidary-arts.png (from lapidaryschool.org uploads William-Holland-Logo1x.png).
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What does a week at William Holland cost?
A: Pricing page (checked 2026-09-16): Private Lodging $920/week; Shared Lodging $675/week; RV Camping $445/week per student; Commuter $325/week. Packages bundle tuition with the lodging/meal elements listed on that page. Master and weekend sessions are priced separately. Confirm live rates and any instructor material fees before registering.

Q: What subjects are taught?
A: Official Classes catalog covers cabochons, faceting, silver, wire wrapping/weaving, casting, enameling, glass fusing, opals, intarsia, metal clay, lampwork, mineral ID, junior rockhound tracks, and many related arts. The 2026 Class Schedule PDF assigns instructors by week/medium; class descriptions and materials lists live with registration — confirm the live Classes page and schedule PDF.

Q: Is this a jewelry store or a local gem club?
A: No. William Holland is listed here as Workshops — a teaching campus with curriculum, lodging, and tuition. It is not a retail jewelry shop and not a monthly membership club meeting. For club meetings, see Clubs; for equipment/rough mail-order, see Suppliers.