Two Asbury Park pioneers in downtown redevelopment recently broke ground of a different kind. Robert Legere and Steven Troy, founders of Robert Legere Home, took part in New Jersey’s first commitment ceremony recognized by the Episcopal Church. “We had gone through so many things together that we just couldn’t imagine why we shouldn’t make it a permanent relationship,” Troy says.
Legere and Troy met in 2000. Two years later, they started their interior design company and home furnishings store. They refurbished a 100-year-old building on Cookman Avenue as their headquarters, making Robert Legere Home one of the first new businesses to open in the city’s downtown district in decades.
The ceremony took place at Asbury Park’s Trinity Church, where Troy and Legere are members, and the reception included performances by Broadway singer Christiane Noll. Instead of gifts, the couple asked their friends and families to donate to the American Foundation for AIDS Research, for which they raised $6,500. “I think we set a precedent,” Troy says, “and I love setting precedents.”
Article from October, 2005 Issue.