‘It’s not just retail. It’s hospitality’: Stonehouse Market store coming to downtown Wheaton

Fran Rouse shares a certain French sensibility through her Wheaton store, Stonehouse Market.

There are cookbooks, beautifully packaged Andrée Jardin soaps and brushes, L'epicurien salted butter caramel spread, and art Rouse brought back from a trip to Paris. She tells her customers to get out the good china, and she practices what she preaches. For Christmas, Rouse used the family silver.

In other words, “romanticize your life,” she says.

A Francophile at heart, Rouse also spotlights local artists at her store in Town Square Wheaton. The cutting boards are made by woodworker and retired Wheaton dentist Dr. Martin Dettmer. Hand-poured in Elmhurst, Dickens Candles smell like fresh ground coffee beans or white birch.

“There’s a story behind it, or there’s some intention involved in it,” Rouse said. “It’s not just a tchotchke to fill your house.”

With that thoughtful approach, Rouse is adding a second Stonehouse Market — this one in downtown Wheaton.

The storefront is on the same block as the Hale Street tents, a seasonal outdoor dining scene created by the Downtown Wheaton Association and shared by nearby restaurants.

Part of that space will provide “more room to help create experiences for customers” who are asking for it, Rouse said.

She hosts watercolor painting classes and sells Emily Lex Studio watercolor workbooks. The store is one of few suburban retailers to carry a collection of Fusion Mineral Paint. Before the holidays, there was a class on the art of arranging fresh bouquets. Workshops usually involve charcuterie.

“I just love that community, when they come in for that experience, and there's laughter in here,” said Rouse, a Wheaton resident for more than 30 years.

She previously had a store in a historic stone house in Oswego. Hence, the name Stonehouse Market. Rouse later moved the business to Town Square, an open-air center close to home.

“We love Town Square, and we’re staying here, as well,” she said.

The additional store is slated to open next month at 126 N. Hale St.

“You will definitely feel that same calm and kind of respite, but we’re still lively,” Rouse said.

Jazzy music, like what you might hear in a quieter French cafe, plays in the background. The store has furniture, pillows, lamps, scripture cards, wool throws, coffee table books and warmth.

“I was a customer in Oswego, and I literally would just come to the shop to relax and talk to Fran and see what was new,” Tina Mentz said. “And it just brought me peace. It just quieted me down, and I could take a breath. And when I started slowing down in my career, I was talking to Fran, and I said, ‘I should just come work at the store.’”

That she did.

“When it’s not busy, I’ll just walk around the store and take it all in. It just feels like home,” Mentz said.

There’s a mix of new and old. Vintage finds are marked with a special tag of charming wallpaper. Rouse traces her affinity for vintage and original art to a creative family. Her father painted oils and commissioned portraits, “but then, he would just have fun” with landscapes and kitschy art, too.

“I think, at a really early age, I just saw things through kind of an artist’s eye,” Rouse said.

She shares her eye for style and ideas for gifts. Greeting cards, too, are an intentional thing, with wildflower seeds embedded in the paper. Tear it up, plant and voila.

“It’s not just retail. It’s hospitality,” Rouse said.

At her new Hale Street store, she plans to have a dedicated space to host more events and give people that creative outlet.

“I’m really happy to stay in Wheaton and have another offering, again, with a little more space to explore it,” she said. “And then, see what more we can do for the community.”