Photography by François Gagne
Occasionally, one particular store comes to embody the place in which it is set. Hudson Home, fittingly named for its home of Hudson, NY, does so with particular grace and aplomb.
At first glance, Hudson Home looks like a curated collection of beautiful home furnishings and décor. And it is. But scratch beneath the tastefully gilded surface, and there’s so much more. Hudson Home represents the culmination of a lifetime devoted to interior design, a deep appreciation for life upstate, an affinity for relationship-building, and a dedication to supporting the regional design community.
Hudson Home was founded by Richard Bodin and Greg Feller in 2005. Feller was (and still is) an interior designer with an affinity for architectural history; Bodin had spent most of his career managing complex marketing initiatives for financial services firms. The pair’s blend of talents and skills proved to be just the cocktail that Hudson—and its growing community of artists, designers, creatives, and discerning home buyers who have flocked to the region in the 20 years since the now-iconic store first opened—were thirsty for.
Not only is Hudson Home a store at which you can shop a carefully curated collection of home goods—it’s also an interior design trade showroom, meaning other designers who’ve made their home north of NYC can stop by to browse and order from a wide selection of furniture, fabric, wallpaper, lighting, carpet, and more. And stop by they do: Hudson Home regularly welcomes designers from throughout the Northeast who don’t want to travel all the way to Manhattan to find high-quality products.
“We’ve been able to bring in design resources that previously couldn’t be found in the area,” Feller says. “We’re pleased to make those same resources available to other designers so they can enjoy what the area has to offer and still have access to a broad range of top design brands close to home. We feel uniquely qualified to serve other designers because we are designers, too. We know the challenges they face, and we work hard to make doing business easier for them.”
If it wasn’t abundantly clear, at Hudson Home, the “Hudson” half of the name is equally as important as the “Home” half.
“Hudson is an anomaly,” says Bodin. “It’s a city, but it’s in the country. It’s historic, but it’s current. The confluence of history, geography, and people make it a very unique place. There are still no chain or mass retailers on Warren Street. There is just such a creative force here with a substantial appreciation for history and uniqueness.”
Twenty years into owning Hudson Home, Feller and Bodin are stretching their wings creatively as well as geographically, working with clients and designers in Albany, Troy, and Saratoga. They’re also using their silver anniversary as an excuse to refresh their brand identity and website. If you haven’t been in a while—or ever—it may be time for a visit.
“Recently, we’ve been doing more full-scale renovations and more multi-generational projects,” says Feller, the creative force behind the brand’s interior design branch. “We’ve designed for young parents, their parents, and now the children themselves. We’ve come full circle. We love our clients and feel very much a part of their families.”
Clearly, for their devoted clients, the feeling’s mutual.
