Orange County Travel Guide
Guest User
Foundry42 Fires Up Front Street
Warm and welcoming new faces on old spaces are going up along Front Street.
Step into Foundry42 in Port Jervis, and the aromas of brewed-to-order coffee and freshly baked noshes welcome you. Your nose understands the handmade nature of the place — and everything in it — even before you adventure into the generous loft-style space. There, you discover one-of-a-kind wares from skilled makers and unique pieces picked from across the country.
“Everything in our shop is made with love,” says Owner/Proprietor, Cooper Boone. “Even our coffee is a signature blend just for us, and arrives within days of roasting.”
Boone launched the store in 2016 with his partner, Mark Veeder. It reflects their many interests, and Boone’s uncanny sense for combining industrial and pastoral elements to yield an upscale aesthetic that some have called “modern farmhouse.”
Makers Matter
Foundry42 products possess the unmistakable, yet indescribable, qualities that come from small batch production. You will find hand-woven rugs, hand-dipped candles, handstitched aprons, handmade furniture, and all types of artisan-created household items. But, equally important to Boone is that you also feel some connection to the makers themselves.
“You may come in here and find us at the loom one day, or making our candles,” says Boone.
Foundry42’s logo includes a plus sign, a symbol of the positivity and inclusion that Boone hopes to spread from his retail base of operations. Including the community curated exhibition and performance space on the second floor, Foundry42 had always been conceptualized as a place for creativity to happen and be shared, as much as it is a store.
Boone and Veeder are also hands-on at the maker level. Besides having designed many of the F42+ brand items for sale, Boone also creates the locally milled wooden tops for his Truman Collection of tables. Veeder’s skincare line, Farmacy, is created, in part, from his proprietary echinacea plant. Farmacy products are available exclusively at Sephora stores, QVC, and now Foundry42.
Picked With Purpose
For each new item on the floor, Foundry42 also shows you two or three of an earlier vintage. Each piece has been chosen with a vision for its restoration and repurposing, and an eye toward how it will fit into Foundry42’s overall vibe. Wooden arrows are displayed as a bouquet; a salvaged limestone sink as a planter; refinished industrial lockers for your mud room; the floor tom from a vintage drum set, an end table. It’s quirky, quaint design that’s accessible to anyone.
“Like Port Jervis, a lot of the items have an historic quality to them,” says Boone. “It’s nostalgia, but we aren’t recreating the past; we’re creating something new.”
Boone chose to do business in Port Jervis, citing all the attractive details it offered: great architecture, its proximity to the train and highways, hip destinations nearby, the area’s natural beauty, and the peace of the Catskills. Following his move here and subsequent business successes, he’s helped convince other business people of the potential, and they’ve begun to piggyback on his enthusiasm.
“People are buying up these gorgeous old buildings and have started rehabbing them,” says Boone, “and great stuff is moving in.”
Boone coined the term “reJervination” for the movement! Now, Port Jervis isn’t just the
last stop on the train line out of NYC, it’s becoming a first stop for adventurous shoppers, diners, and sight seers. Foundry42 is right in the thick of it, located at 42 Front Street in Port Jervis — a place for people to go to relax and be inspired, as much as to shop.
“At Foundry42, there’s a place at the table for everyone,” says Boone.
Foundry42 is open Thursday through Sunday, from 8am until 5pm; Monday through Wednesday by appointment. You can call Foundry42 at 845-858-4942, or check out their website www.F42home.com to see some of their signature items. When you pay them a visit in Port Jervis, there’s free parking and an entrance behind the shop, off of Ball Street.