George W. Headley III (1908-1985) studied art at the Art Student's League in New York and l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He later apprenticed as a designer with the New York Jeweler Paul Flato in the 1930s. In the 1940s, Headley opened his own jewelry boutique in California at the Hotel Bel-Air and cultivated a clientele including such Hollywood celebrities as Fanny Brice, Mae West and Joan Crawford.

After nearly a decade of success on the West Coast, Headley returned to his family farm, La Belle, in Lexington and continued his career designing jewelry and bibelots.

In 1960, Headley married Barbara Whitney Henry Peck
(d. 1982), sister of noted thoroughbred horseman Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899-1992) and daughter of the sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (d. 1942), founder of New York's Whitney Museum of American Art.

In 1968, Headley opened his distinctive Jewel Room and Library building on the scenic grounds of La Belle Farm. The museum complex was completed in the 1970's with the addition of the Shell Grotto and the main building.