Dream kitchen

Three years ago, Mark Goldman started making a dream come true.

Mark is president of Pennville Custom Cabinetry in Portland. As the name implies, the company creates made-to-order cabinets, primarily for kitchens. Its products form the backbone of high-end kitchens in Boston, Atlanta, and Naples, Florida, to name a few.

For 15 years, Mark dreamed of building a showroom, not in one of the dozens of big cities where sales representatives handle Pennville products, but at the company’s home base.

Portland has been that base since 1972, when Mark’s father, Stanford, moved the company to a 15-acre former Sheller Globe site on Votaw Street. According to the company’s website, Edgar Mertz started a cabinet shop in Pennville in the 1950s, and Stanford purchased the shop after Mertz’ death. The move to Portland gave the company space to grow.

It now covers more than 50,000 square feet in multiple buildings, the newest of which is the showroom — or at least the beginnings of the showroom — Mark has been dreaming about.

The space is dominated by a white kitchen nearly 22 feet long.

Along one wall is a high bank of cabinets with three kinds of ovens, a built-in coffee/espresso machine, a pantry and storage for utensils, spices and more. Next to that is a refrigerator, clean-up sink, dishwasher and yet more storage.

Across from that, there is a 4½-foot wide island running the entire length of the kitchen.

The side of the island closest to the cabinet wall is set up as workspace, with an induction cooktop and another sink, this one 6 feet long. Under the counter are storage drawers and a mini greenhouse for growing fresh herbs and greens.

Opposite the workspace, there is room for at least 10 visitors to sit side by side, watch the cook and have a meal.

That’s important, because this showroom isn’t just a place to see Pennville Custom Cabinetry’s handiwork.

This is a real kitchen. A place to cook.

“We wanted to do a modern kitchen that was truly functional,” said Mark’s wife, Michele, whose title with the company is showroom experience manager.

Three or four days a week, Michele prepares lunch for potential customers, dealers of Pennville Custom Cabinetry, interior designers and other guests.

The Goldmans have hosted visitors who flew a private plane from Key West to explore possibilities for remodeling their kitchen. A group of 40 designers from Indianapolis recently visited the showroom. There wasn’t room for everyone to sit down, but they still got a cooking demonstration and something to eat as they looked around.

Mark estimates he visits about 100 kitchen showrooms a year. He doesn’t know of any other that serves so many meals.

Not only does a cooking demonstration give potential customers a chance to see the cabinets in action, it also changes the atmosphere of what is essentially a shopping trip.

“It really breaks down barriers,” said Michele.

She takes time to teach visitors how to use the kitchen and answer questions.

“We like to talk to people who love food,” Mark said. “This is sort of where our social life is.”

Clearly, the kitchen wouldn’t be operable with cabinets alone. To make the showroom kitchen complete, Goldman added appliances and other features usually only available in large cities.

The Galley Ideal Workstation, for example, is a sink extraordinaire. The 6-foot version in the showroom is set up so that one cook can be chopping, rinsing and draining multiple dishes at the same time. It has on-demand boiling water for blanching and can be set up as a buffet station for parties.

Michele has become a big fan of the unit.

“This has been a game-changer for me,” she said.

“The smaller the space (you have in your kitchen), the more you need this,” her husband said.

The Goldmans are equally enthusiastic about the paint used by Pennville Custom Cabinetry, Farrow & Ball from England. On a recent Sunday morning, the couple awakened to a barrage of emails and texts from friends and customers. It seems the snob appeal of Farrow & Ball had been ridiculed on an episode of “Saturday Night Live” the night before.

The skit made the Goldmans chuckle, but didn’t impact their loyalty to the brand.

“They use the best ingredients and they use more of them,” Mark said. “It’s not something you’d expect to find in Portland, Indiana.”

Pennville Custom Cabinetry is authorized to sell all the brands featured in the kitchen to customers who order their cabinets from him. He said he used to have to refer customers to other dealerships to complete their kitchens, but “that didn’t seem like a high-end experience.” He stressed that he’s not in competition with other appliance dealers in Portland or even in the region.

“We’re competing for customers who would shop in Chicago or Indianapolis,” he said.

Mark is proud of the showroom and what it has to offer.

“It’s good enough for any major city in the world,” he said.

He’s also proud to have the showroom in Portland, where despite limited food options, he has found “a higher percentage of great cooks than in most places.”

Local and regional customers are welcome to drop in during showroom hours, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Those interested in arranging a meal should call Michele ahead of time or contact her through the company website, PennvilleCabinetry.com.

Though the couple doesn’t want the showroom to be taken advantage of as a place for free meals, they recognize that customers might come from anywhere.

“Everybody knows somebody who would like a new kitchen,” said Mark.

Next year, Michele hopes to set up cooking classes for kids in the showroom kitchen. That could expand to include kids’ etiquette practice and/or cooking classes for adults.

Both Goldmans glow with excitement when talking about the future of the showroom and what it means for the company.

Pennville Custom Cabinetry employs about 35, many of whom have been with the company more than 10 years. Cabinets are built from scratch. The tools might be high-tech, but the craftsmanship is old school, Mark said.

“Everything’s made to last forever.”

And the best thing he could do for Portland and Jay County, he said, “is to keep this company going for another generation.”

Mark himself represents the third generation. His grandfather Nathan Goldman built an electric distributorship in Ohio, and it was funds from that company that enabled Stanford to purchase the cabinet shop. Mark started working there in 1985 and became president in 1990 at the age of 24. He and Michele have two young daughters.

The dream of a showroom predates the births of those children, but they were part of the inspiration to make the dream come true.

“I kind of wanted to make this cool enough that my kids might stay,” he said. “The showroom gives us some mojo.”

In addition to the big kitchen, the showroom also includes a small family room vignette with an entertainment center, a bathroom and a nearly completed bar — all featuring Pennville Custom Cabinetry.

A house next door has been retrofitted with another kitchen. There are plans for a third, smaller kitchen in the main showroom and a laundry room in the house.

“We’re putting everything into this,” said Mark. “It’s hard to figure what a dream should cost.”