Natural Wonders
Written by Robert Leleux | Photography by Mendy Waits and Hort and Pott
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Hort and Pott transforms its surroundings into livable art.
Founders Todd Carr and Carter Harrington make any trip to Hort and Pott into an experience akin to an art opening. (P.S. Cocktails are served.)
Todd Carr and Carter Harrington, partners in business and life, are masters at making beauty from the often overlooked. It’s a talent on display at Hort and Pott (a name derived from horticulture and pottery), an upstate New York botanical boutique that, on select “peak seasonal weekends,” becomes a destination for day-trippers in pursuit of the store’s ever-changing aesthetic experience. Right now, Hort and Pott is a wintery dreamscape, but just last month it was a "moody and sumptuous" feast of earthy autumnal elements, such as dried leaves, flowers, and other eye-catching vegetation. That’s because, in ways both creative and commercial, Carr and Harrington’s endeavor is in dialogue with its natural surroundings. The pair garden and forage, and from their gatherings, they fashion wildly original botanical creations, including mossy wreaths, woven baskets, and appealingly unconventional arrangements. These, along with to-die-for garden supplies, and artisanal and vintage home goods, comprise Hort and Pott’s limited-collection merchandise, all displayed in a woodland setting frequently described as magical.
This magic was years in the making. Carr and Harrington moved to rural Greene County in 2016, after a series of life events compelled a change. Carr had been a garden designer and gardening editor at Martha Stewart Living; Harrington, who trained in interior design and architecture, had worked at a displays and visual merchandising company. Both were tired of the city, and longing to make something of their own. Through the years, Carr had launched a series of botanical-themed pop-ups. From these, a shop in Oak Hill, New York was born. But in 2020, the couple purchased Hort and Pott’s current location, a former boarding house on a property in the charming village of Freehold, New York, a community which is increasingly home to city-fleeing creatives. The property also boasts their home, an 1890s Italianate farmhouse currently under renovation. Though the couple works hand-in-glove, their roles are well-defined. Carr crafts ceramics and does the gardening; Harrington builds the flower beds. Carr took the photos for Hort and Pott’s website, while Harrington designed the shop’s logo. Altogether, an ideal partnership. And the couple isn’t finished yet. Together, they’re imagining Hort and Pott as a sort of community center hosting gardening and food workshops, gatherings in celebration of the natural world so central to Carr and Harrington’s vision.
We find inspiration in the alchemy of traditional craftsmanship and modern design, cultivating a unique space where botanicals, ceramics, and fine art intertwine and reference a sense of nostalgia and joy.
Hort and Pott is located in scenic Freehold, New York, just twenty minutes west of Hudson.
The shop is open on select weekends, a schedule detailed here.
The interiors celebrate the bounty of the natural world.
“Our design process is a love letter to the seasons. Each creation, a chapter in the story of nature’s perpetual rhythm –is an ode to the beauty found in every branch, every leaf, and every season’s unique charm.”
No effort is spared in the creation of Hort and Pott’s “rich and sumptuous” atmosphere.
Explore Hort and Pott
