There is an uplifting energy surrounding The Huntress x Jenny Wolf—a fresh New York City outpost of the store and interior design practice that Wolf founded. A New York-based designer who takes inspiration from her Southern roots and world travels, Wolf has supercharged this enterprise with positivity.
Some of this comes from the fact that The Huntress is the type of shop where one might fall for a new piece of art or furniture or bath accouterment every few steps. As each frame on the wall offers a new surprise for the eyes, each shelf and surface becomes a frame for another lovingly chosen product or piece. In a way, it’s all a salute to the act of curation—being a huntress, as Wolf and company might say.
When I visit, the space is alive with women of boundless creative energy. These include design and retail director for Jenny Wolf Interiors and The Huntress, Sallie Blackmer Chamberlain; gallerist and fine art photographer, Robin Rice; ceramicist Jeanette Morrow (whose work is on display); floral artist Emily Swarts of Fleurvoyant —currently offering arrangements out of the Huntress space; and Wolf herself. All clearly possess a genuine enthusiasm for what The Huntress is sharing with the world.
Stocking The Huntress
Sallie Blackmer Chamberlain is looking confident in an embellished white blouse. She notes the new and unique challenges of presenting a retail experience to a world that has become obsessed with online commerce. In a way, it’s intuitive: appeal to consumers who love shopping from home with a space that feels like home—even to the people who work there.
One service that really brings The Huntress home is their Designer Consultation. For a $250 fee, a member of The Huntress team will visit your home for a session to get to know your style and curate a selection of items tailored to your tastes—a mix of antiques, pieces curated for sale at The Huntress, and additional treasures from trusted sources. Chamberlain and I agree that it would be a great gift, especially for someone who may have not experienced working with a designer or personal shopper—but would love to.
Chamberlain notes that—despite the profusion of variety—she has something exciting to swap in the moment any of the displayed pieces finds a new home—from chairs to dressers to linens. And if ever she’s working with a customer requiring a solution that’s not quite so portable, she can lead them back to the Jenny Wolf Interiors team to take over.
The Art of the Huntress New York
Notably, between the ebullient shop at the front and the graciously appointed office at the back, there is a different kind of space. Dubbed “The Hunstman,” this broad, flexible space will host curations that will be periodically refreshed. The staff compares it to the way a theater welcomes new productions or a museum hosts exhibitions.
Appropriately, my guide through this part of the space is gallerist and fine art photographer Robin Rice. Her Robin Rice Gallery is in the neighborhood, and she confides in me that she’s on the cusp of an exciting new project in Hudson. But wherever she is working, Rice is interested in creating immersive experiences where people can interact with artists, designers and their work. That is in part why she is curating art throughout The Huntress space. And, true to its “Huntsman” moniker, this part has the feel of a refined gentleman’s study.
Rice points to a few of her own pieces scattered among the chosen works “just to show off,” she says. But she seems even more genuinely excited to share the work of other artists she loves. She has populated the walls with intriguing meditations on themes of hunting, nature and masculinity. She also notes that the work has been “doubly curated,” in a sense. Once Rice made her selections, Wolf approved every single piece for display, as well.
Discussing the Interior with Jenny Wolf
After a few laps, I end up face to face with Jenny Wolf. And she looks splendid in a little black dress that softens to an effusion of polka dots at the sleeves and neckline. But after a visit spent largely focused on tangible objects, Wolf wants to talk about what’s going on inside her audience.
The first thing Wolf mentions is The Huntress Retreats. Groups of “huntresses” gather at a chateau in the South of France for what she calls “a journey back to you.” I note that this is the first time I have heard “huntress” here, separate from the act of curating. But Wolf notes that the beautiful things the team has gathered—from candles to tea to grooming products—are all about taking time for oneself. And they are beautiful because they make life better. Thus, all of the hunting is ultimately to help clients and customers find something within themselves.
“When you focus on the inner, it reflects on the outer,” Wolf says. In fact, she notes that opening the original Huntress store in Pound Ridge was a time of transformation for her. Now she hopes to bring transformation to others—whether that comes in the form of beautiful objects or related activities like tea ceremonies and moon ceremonies. Wolf points out that 95 percent of her work is still interior design. “This,” she says—motioning to the splendidly stocked space and happily chatting creatives, “is just my dream.”
Luckily, it’s a dream she’s excited to share; visit The Huntress at 632 Hudson St. in Manhattan.
Photography by Paul Hagen.
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