Confluence, Pennsylvania: Tissue Farm Espresso welcomes Collene Reeves as our first customer at the opening event on Thursday, May 20, at 4 pm. Mrs. Reeves is the daughter of Cedala and Ferdinand Sann, Jr., who built the former Mountain Chevrolet building in 1941 and raised their family in the apartment upstairs. The
Sanns’ grandchildren will also be in attendance. Tissue Farm is opening an espresso and tea shop on Friday, May 21, 2021, at 446 Latrobe Ave, Confluence PA 15424. Hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday from 8 am - 3 pm. The menu features espresso drinks -- Americanos, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, chai (made in-house), hot chocolate, teas, iced tea, lemonade, plus locally made baked goods -- scones, muffins, cookies. Our coffee roaster is Commonplace Coffee (https://commonplacecoffee.com) of Pittsburgh and Indiana, PA.
“It’s always thrilling to see a new business come into the district and the fact that this building, and this land, has gone through multiple metamorphoses is absolutely amazing. With an excellent location in Confluence just minutes away from the GAP Trail and right along the water, my hope is that Tissue Farm provides not only a showcase of our areas beauty for visitors but a comforting place for our locals as well. I wish them much success in the years to come,” said State Representative Matthew Dowling.
Tissue Farm’s espresso and tea shop is located in the former dealership’s showroom which was large enough to house one new car per year. The rest of the ground floor served as a mechanic shop with the auto body shop in the lower level round back.
Suzanne Ragan Lentz and Jeffrey ‘Pope’ Pankey, an artist couple from Seattle, purchased the building in March 2019. Ms. Lentz grew up in Maryland and has
been visiting the Confluence area since 1990. Mr. Pankey grew up in Idaho as a river guide running rivers there and in Mexico.
They have been renovating the building since April 2019 -- Phase 1: guest rooms in the upstairs apartment in June 2019 to service visitors to Fallingwater and
bicyclists on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). Phase 2: espresso shop opening Friday, May 21, 2021, at 8 am. Phase 3: a gallery and artist-in-residence program opening late 2021/early 2022.
The present-day Tissue Farm gets its name from the first paragraph of the history of the land’s usage written by Linda Spoerlein, Colleen Reeve’s daughter, for
the Turkeyfoot Valley Historical Society Newsletter. “The following information is found in that deed: 2 lots in the town of Confluence, recently laid out lots 11 and
12 on Block 1, being part of a tract of land known as ‘Tissue Farm’.” This Osage and Massawomeck land was acquired in 1798 by Captain William Tissue of the Revolutionary War. He eventually owned six farms in Somerset and Fayette County and spent the latter part of his life in the Borough of Confluence. The Fallingwater property was one such farm where all the crops from all of Captain Tissue’s farms were stored.
For more information, visit www.thetissuefarm.com
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CONTACT INFORMATION:
Suzanne Ragan Lentz
Tissue Farm LLC
814-395-2233 / 206-240-2403
info@thetissuefarm.com