The Furniture Farmer
The Furniture Farm
In the fresh fall of snow, David Boerman’s home, set back from the two-lane highway, looks like the typical farm in wintery Western New York. Down the long gravel driveway is a four-square house with an inviting front porch, a large red barn and several weather-beaten outbuildings, sheds and tractor-trailers. It’s when you peer inside those buildings, the full picture of Boreman’s life comes clear and where the name of his farm, the “Furniture Farm,” originates. Floor to ceiling and wall to wall, stacks of antique homes goods, tables, desks, lamps, gadgets, old radios, toys and even old washers, stoves and refrigerators. Boxes and bins brimming with nuts, bolts, wires and tools, lots of old tools. Through the doors, it’s an amazing maze of the clutter people leave behind, a collection of things looking for a new use, a new life, a new home.
Boerman’s dog runs across the the fresh fall of snow at the “Furniture Farm” in Marion, N.Y
A galvanized-steel quonset hut houses Boerman’s office, workshop and antique business. His father, Peter, started an upholstering business on the farm in 1938. It eventually branched out into an antique business carried on by son, David.
David Boerman picks though the maze of his shop and office. Inside is a unique collection of remnants from estate sales, flea and antique markets, items picked up along his travels and on the side of the road, and the things people no longer needed or left behind after death.
Boerman’s antique roll-top desk is a landing pad for the thousands of pieces of paper created by the working farm and the business. It also serves as a photo album of family photos, a place for his glasses, antique phone and pens, and a small clearing for actual work.
Framed photo of Boerman with his parents and brother stuck in cubby inside the massive desk.