Neighbors leery as Stewart tries to brand ‘Katonah’

KATONAH, N.Y. — Martha Stewart appreciates her new hometown so much that she’s proposing to trademark a line of furniture, paint and other products using the name of the hamlet.

But some Katonah residents are leery about their community name becoming part of the Martha brand.

“We don’t think it’s a good idea for her to assert trademark rights over a name that’s been in use as a place name since 1852,” said William O’Neill, co-president of the Katonah Village Improvement Society. “Most people are baffled, I think, at the idea that this is something that could be done.”

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has a series of trademarks pending to use the name for the various product lines. One of them is the “Katonah Collection,” a furniture line which is already being sold in Macy’s department stores.

“Martha Stewart, number one, loves Katonah; number two, seeks to honor the town and the hamlet by using the word Katonah,” said Diana Pearson, a company spokeswoman. “She expects that her neighbors feel similarly that it’s a beautiful place that deserves recognition.”

Stewart said in a statement in October that the new collection - complete with an “antique-style” four-post bed and tailored English sofa - was inspired by the Katonah area, where she owns the 153-acre Cantitoe Corners estate.

Stewart has named other products after her homes, Pearson said. The company’s other furniture lines include Turkey Hill - named after her Westport, Conn., home and Skylands - named after her home in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

“We’re going forward to trademark this name as well,” Pearson said.

Some people wish she wouldn’t. The community name, local history says, comes from a 17th-century Indian chief. The hamlet, in the town of Bedford, was actually moved 100 years ago to make way for the Croton Reservoir system.

Deirdre Courtney-Batson, vice president of the Katonah Historical Museum, said she had no issue with Stewart using the hamlet name for her furniture collection, because that does honor the community, but she was leery of the trademark proposal.

“I don’t understand why she needs to trademark it, because it’s our town,” she said. “I don’t understand all the legal implications. Perhaps it’s not a problem, but, right now, I’m very uncomfortable with it.”