THE SOURCE: HUDSON HOME

lobe-trotting interior designers

GRichard Bodin and Greg Feller have managed to democratize, elevate and expand their interior design vision with Hudson Home.

Not that it’s been easy. The pair had been creating distinct, highly curated interior designs informed by their love of nature, history, and travel for clients for 15 years. But they wanted more. So in the fall of 2004, they opened Hudson Home’s original location, in a townhouse at 356 Warren Street.

“When we moved into the bigger Hudson Home space [in 2015], it was with the goal of creating a space that shared our vision with the many design lovers who live in and visit Hudson, as well as members of the interior design trade,” Bodin says. “We can showcase our residential and commercial design capabilities this way, but we can also sell gorgeous objects to people who just pop in.”

The pair fell in love with the Hudson Valley as weekenders. “But we were surprised by the lack of resources for getting well-designed new products here,” Bodin says. “A lot of our clients in New York City, and weekenders from Boston and the Capital District were coming here too, looking to add touches to their homes, or do more substantial work.”

Their response comes in the form of a thoughtfully curated two-level showroom in a former printing plant. The second floor is their design think tank: a showroom and resource library of window treatments, fabrics, rugs, and wall coverings. Even during the pandemic, they have provided (socially distant) spaces for fellow design pros who want to utilize Hudson Home’s vast curated collection of design resources for their own projects. The first floor, meanwhile, is brimming with custom-upholstered furniture, wood furniture, lighting, linens, tabletop accoutrements, art, and objects drawn from a vast range of periods, styles and sources across the globe.

Hudson Home is located in the former Registar-Star newspaper building on Warren Street. The shop’s selection features American-made upholstery, casegoods, and one-of-a-kind vintage finds chosen for their timeless style.

Hudson Home’s second floor design library holds a comprehensive selection of fabrics, natural-fiber floor coverings, and wallpapers. Consumers, and designers alike, are encouraged to utilize the library.

One of the many curated vignettes at Hudson Home. This setting includes a one-of-a-kind concrete-top desk, a vintage Hudson River Line print, and a reactive glaze lamp. Hudson Home also feature a large selection of gifts, books and decorative objects.

Sometimes, an impulse buyer becomes a design client. “We try to spend time with as many people in the store as possible, and often a short conversation about a pillow or rug leads to more,” says Feller. “In one case, a woman who was just a weekend walk-in became someone we spent months with, designing her 16,000-square-foot home.”

But the pair are also thrilled to have been able to work with people who were just strolling by, who perhaps don’t have the budget for a vast home redesign. The pandemic has only accelerated that trend, as so many people are living, learning, working and recreating at home.

“Everyone hates their sofa right now because they’ve been sitting on it for a year,” Bodin points out. “And a lot of people are upgrading home offices or homeschooling spaces. We really want to help people fall back in love with their homes. We take, and we encourage our clients to take, a holistic approach to not just appreciating and upgrading the physical attributes of their home but strengthening their emotional connection to it.”

Sometimes that entails a pair of fresh eyes and a complete redesign. Other times, that just means a handmade basket from Mexico placed just so next to the fireplace, or a wonderfully fragrant candle from Paris for a bath-time upgrade.