“I’m a custom tailor by trade,” says Kevin Koch of Koch House of Design, 211 E. Washington St., Goshen. “We make custom suits from scratch, we do custom clothes and design blue jeans and quite a variety of things. We also do embroidery, and we do a lot of handwork.
“I do varsity jackets for the local high schools, and that’s one way I’m able to do custom things for the community, because a lot of my clientele are on the East Coast or down south,” he adds. “With the varsity jackets, the students come in and get to experience what it is to stand in front of the mirror and get fitted and measured.”
Kevin and his wife, Jeannie, purchased the historic church at Washington and Sixth streets – long known informally in Goshen as The Chouse – five years ago. They’ve restored it into both their home and the Koch House of Design workspace and showroom.
“We’re stuck with it – which is good,” Kevin says of the Chouse moniker. “We’re endeared to it now.”
Kevin is a fan of architecture and old buildings. He also enjoys Goshen’s downtown.
“I love the atmosphere of the creative district here, the other artists in town,” he says. “It just has that multicultural, artisan feel to it. I love living in town. …I just love the camaraderie, the atmosphere, the way stores and merchants work together down here. I’m excited to be here.”