Dutchess Trading
Finding the Fun in Retail, Again
Photographs by Anne Day
By Cynthia Hochswender
There are, often, two reactions when people walk into The Dutchess Trading Company on Main Street in Millerton. They either say, ‘What IS this?;’ or they happily step inside, all smiles, and share memories of the shop’s former incarnation, as the iconic Terni’s Store.
Dutchess Trading owners Richard Lambertson, Christophe Pourny, and Jason Jobson are enjoying both responses. Like everyone in the region, they were familiar with the century-old Terni’s, seller of guns and ammo, Pendleton shirts, newspapers, and outdoor gear.
After a century of ownership, the last of the family, Phil Terni, died in 2020. The building sat empty for a while—until Lambertson, Jobson, and Pourny purchased it in 2022, mainly just to fix it up and save an important part of Millerton village.
“Retail wasn’t a big part of our plans,” says Lambertson, who has been the creative force behind some of the world’s top luxury brands, including Tiffany, Bergdorf Goodman, and Gucci, as well as the designer and co-owner (with John Truex) of the Lambertson Truex line of leather goods. He has had a home in Litchfield County for two decades, and opened the high-end home furnishing shop Privet in 2007, with Suzanne Cassano.
Pourny is a restorer of historic buildings and furnishings, the author of “The Furniture Bible,” and, with Jobson, the creator of a line of exquisite furniture care products.
Jobson worked as a stylist for famed portrait photographer Francesco Scavullo while still a student at FIT, and went on to work with such brands as Ferragamo, and Chanel.
Two years were spent doing essential restoration work to the circa 1860 building’s foundation, plumbing, electricity, and floors (the Victorian-style edifice started out as a boarding house). The new owners tried wherever possible to retain the look of the old Terni’s—so much so that, recently, a man came in asking if they were selling guns.
“We may need to take the old signs down off the storefront at some point,” Lambertson muses.
Pourny suggests the signs should say “Hodge Podge.”
As they were renovating the building, the trio’s retail roots began to show. They decided to open a shop—but only under specific conditions.
“Retail is hard,” Pourny says. “We agreed that here we will only sell things we like, and we will have fun, be unpretentious, and make people happy.”
These goals have all been achieved since Dutchess Trading opened in July 2024. The shelves are stocked with a mix of everything from $3.50 dripless candles to Filson menswear, from canvas bags designed by Pourny’s sister to leather goods from Lambertson Truex. Among the most popular of their wares is the Farrow & Ball paint line. Also popular: the beloved holiday fruit cakes made by Mrs. Sylvia Crippen, age 90, of Salisbury.
“We are trying not to sell anything that we find from trade shows,” Lambertson says. “We want it to feel like a dry goods store, or a general store. Everyone can find something they want or need here.”
“Or they can just come in and chat,” says Pourny.
