by Nicholas Esposito |
The nearly 100-year-old building at 133 South Country Road in Bellport is now playing host to its third business.
Most recently recognized as Wallen’s Market — and before that a Vaudeville theatre — the building built in 1918 has been transformed into a home goods and food store known as Copper Beech.
Copper Beech’s owners, Thomas O’Brien and Dan Fink, wanted to maintain the historical integrity of the building, thats when they decided to keep the original tin ceiling.
“We restored the ceiling and kept its original colors,” said O’Brien. “[When you look up] you can even see where the ticket booth was from the theatre.”
After four years of inactivity, Copper Beech opened last summer for four weekends as a pop-up shop, with just the front of the store available for customers.
“We wanted to let everyone know we were here,” said O’Brien.
Now, they are officially up and running Tuesday through Sunday.
The store has a wide range of products, from decorative pieces to food goods such as pasta, as well as prepared and fresh foods and fresh bread.
“It’s all about the things that [Fink and I love], home-wise and food,” said O’Brien. “We are inspired by really classic things, like French and Italian cooking.”
The owners are both acclaimed interior designers who work out of Manhattan, but also live part-time in Bellport Villlage.
“The whole town has been wanting something to happen [since Wallen’s Market left],” O’Brien said. “It just took some time because the building needed a lot of work.”
The store will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Monday (except for July 3; they will be open).
FUN FACT
When O’Brien and Fink were doing construction on Copper Beech, they found two tickets in the wall from the original theatre that occupied the location.
Top: Co-owner of Copper Beech, Thomas O’Brien, in the middle of his new store.
