ROCKLAND –- The women behind Maine Country Home, a specialty paint and refinished furniture shop, were in such a hurry to commence operation in Downtown Rockland that the landlady of 371 Main Street had no time to contract the repainting of the space. Instead, the landlady scrambled for supplies and recolored the walls herself as soon as the former Gourmet Popcorn store was empty.

Maine Country Home had been in Thomaston for a little more than a year, but Owner Lydia Langston, Business Manager Samantha deGroff, and Design Associate Kristy Grover wanted to be among the vibrancy of Maine Street Rockland, according to deGroff.

The women were completely moved in within two days, and opened their doors within a week.

On Thursday, Nov. 5, representatives of Rockland (“Where all the cool kids are,” according to Main Street Inc’s Gordon Page) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to properly welcome the specialty store, which will hold painting classes related to refinishing furniture, for no more than the cost of supplies.

As the ribbon was cut, the inventory from the entrepreneurs’ manufacturing business in New Zealand were being shipped by air freight to Rockland.

“We are the world-wide importers, and now the manufacturers, of these decorative latex moldings,” Langston said as she held up a somewhat gel-like decoration that has been known in the New Zealand home décor business for about 40 years.

DeGroff said: “We were the first people to bring them into the United States. So when people come in and say ‘Oh, I’ve never seen this before,’ I say I’m not surprised.”

Langston, who has lived in New Zealand, first learned of the applique when looking at a refinished Victorian mirror. What she believed were intricate wood carvings were, instead, the latex moldings she now distributes. 

The molds, which the women design themselves, are currently in the creation phase, with a target selling date for the final product being early next year. Click here for more information on the appliques.

Mayor Frank Isganitis made reference to the previous evening’s address by Gov. Paul LePage. LePage listed Portland, Lewiston, Auburn, Bangor, Augusta, and Waterville as manufacturers for the state.

“He forgot to mention the best city in Maine: Rockland. So here we are,” he said to the entrerpreneurs. “Thanks for seeing what we already know to be true.”