This is the story of a husband and wife, Walter and Luella Fox, and their family business, Finger Lakes Lawn Furniture, in the heart of Yates County.

Let’s start with the furniture itself, which is all made from polywood. It’s sturdy and will last for generations. It’s smooth and comfortable. It’s waterproof, and impervious to bugs and mold. It’s slightly heavier than wood, so it will stay in place during the strongest winds, yet is light enough to be moved around by an ordinary person.

There are many models and varieties available: traditional Adirondack chairs, balcony settees, gliders, complete dining sets, porch rockers, garden benches, picnic tables, chaise lounges, patio settees, and porch swings.

It’s colorful, too, from vivid primaries all the way to earth tones, and all in many different combinations. The pigment is saturated through every piece, so there’s no chipping, no need to retouch, and (thankfully) no slivers! Wood-toned pieces are made with a texture that could fool even a woodpecker. Longer pieces, such as those used in picnic tables, are reinforced with strong aluminum spars so they will never bow or sag. Polywood, or HDPE, is a high-density polyethylene made from recycled plastic material. It’s the ultimate in easy-care, and thus is perfect for getaway cottages which are meant to be an escape from routine chores (such as caring for wooden furniture).

Most of all, Walter and Luella’s products are an excellent quality. There are currently twenty-nine Google reviews of the shop online, and every single one is a five-star review.

“Customers tell us we are unmatched in value,” says Luella.

Their furniture has found its way to Canada, the Carolinas, Michigan, and several other states. “We don’t ship, but customers find a way to get our products home. One of them transported ten pieces of furniture all the way to Florida on top of a truckload of cabbage!” recalls Luella with a chuckle. One true indicator of customer satisfaction is repeat customers, and the Foxes have plenty of them, such as Nick and Tammy Schoonover, of Tioga County, New York, who have no less than fifteen pieces plus a complete dining room set.

“We go back seventeen years—a long, long ways,” says Nick. “Walter and Luella have the highest standards and the best pricing, and they build a very good personal relationship with their customers. Their reputation speaks for itself.”

Walter and Luella make most of the furniture by themselves, assisted by Walter’s nephew two days a week over the winter. Walter does the heavy lifting, but Luella handles the hardest task—namely, the paperwork!

Walter and Luella were both born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and their families independently moved to Yates when they were of school age. They met while attending the same one-room schoolhouse, which is still there, just outside of Penn Yan. Hard work and fine craftsmanship run in both sides of the family; Walter’s folks tend to be carpenters and Luella’s to be cabinet makers. Luella’s father, at age eighty-three, is still making bowls and trays to sell, and her brother, Sylvan Horning, is currently a master cabinet maker based in nearby Dundee.

“My father was a skilled carpenter, based in the area of New Holland, Pennsylvania, and worked every day until he passed,” says Walter.

Around the year 2000, Walter was looking for carpentry work to do at home. He began making furniture on a wholesale basis on their farm on Sherman Hollow Road. It was satisfying work; Luella helped, and together they built up a reputation for value and craftsmanship. As their business grew, it made more and more sense for them to move from wholesale to retail, and thus sell directly to the public. But this was a major risk. It meant finding a good location, moving the whole enterprise, and then trusting customers to follow.

Luckily, the Foxes found the perfect spot, right on Route 14A. The shop itself is a destination, surrounded by the green fields of Mennonite and Amish farms, and it’s conveniently placed between two very popular destinations, just a mile north of the Windmill Market and a mile south of Oak Hill Foods. They did some extensive refurbishing of the property and it now has a large workshop with a separate showroom—all of it spotlessly maintained. The Foxes made a major investment in 2020 by purchasing a state-of-the-art CNC machine (Computer Numerical Control) to automate the carving and cutting of the products. It proved to be a vast savings on labor. “The year before we got it, I cut thousands of pieces on the bandsaw…and that gets old!” says Luella with a smile.

They opened their new retail location in 2024 and have thrived ever since.

“We meet so many nice people,” says Luella, and adds, with understatement, “We enjoy what we do…let’s put it that way.” Their fourteen-acre property lies snugly on a ridge between Seneca and Keuka Lakes, where “the sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.” The Foxes have a kitchen garden, and a little pond out back draws deer and blue herons and, of course, foxes. In their vacation time, Walter and Luella have taken boat tours of Keuka Lake and have been tickled to see many of their chairs on the porches of the lake houses along the water’s edge.

The shop is located at 3607 Route 14A, five miles south of Penn Yan. From April to July, they are open six days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During March, August, September, and October they are open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are closed on Sundays and all Christian holidays. Walter and Luella are usually on the premises; the posted hours are for the convenience of those driving long distances. Customers are welcome to drop by or call for an appointment at (315) 536-1146. That’s a landline, so please, no texting. They have a fax machine for detailed inquiries at (315) 536-2840 and [email protected].