The Funky Hippy Chic Boutique is a cornucopia of fascinating finds, from men’s and women’s clothing personally selected by owner Patti Greco Sunshine to home decor, incense and jewelry. Patti (opposite page) is an accomplished singer, musician and headlining performer – and a warm, charming host who makes you immediately feel at home within her Monticello, NY shop. Her world travels are reflected in the diversity of her wares, including this exotic fragrance bottle from Nepal (right). 14
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Story by Dan Hust
your style, her way verything here,” says Patti Greco Sunshine, “is like taking a trip around the world.” And that includes Patti, the infectiously effervescent proprietor of The Funky Hippy Chic Boutique, a one-of-a-kind clothing and gift shop right next door to the under-construction Montreign Resort Casino. She is, after all, the “funky, hippy chick” who not only created but grew up at this unique destination. “My grandfather, who was a cab driver in the city, purchased this property for his father in the early ‘40s and spent summers here, like many did,” she relates. And like many more, Sam Chanin rented out bungalows to summer boarders. “He had a candy store right on the corner. It was a little shack, with sodas, candy and newspapers – he even sold Coca-Cola with a
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little hooch in there for a quarter to his ‘special customers’! “So,” she laughs, “there has always been hospitality on this property!” Indeed, Funky Hippy Chic Boutique’s very spot was once occupied by a saltbox farmhouse where Patti spent many happy childhood hours creating memories with her grandparents and family. After traversing the globe as a performer, she returned home, inherited this picturesque corner of Thompsonville and Chalet roads from her mother, Joan Chanin, and together with husband Jonathan, (who gave her the name Sunshine), replaced the farmhouse with the Boutique – using the original, late-1700s beams throughout, in displays and art. In the intervening years as a headline encontinued on page 16
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