WP Posts loop with simple pagination works great for category, archive or STATIC HOMEPAGE

/* functions.php */
// Create pagination
function foundation_pagination( $query = '' ) {
	if ( empty( $query ) ) {
		global $wp_query;
		$query = $wp_query;
	}

	// required for static front-page pagination
	if ( get_query_var('paged') ) {
		$paged = get_query_var('paged');
	} elseif ( get_query_var('page') ) {
		$paged = get_query_var('page');
	} else {
		$paged = 1;
	}
	// required for static front-page pagination

	$big = 999999999;

	$links = paginate_links( array(
			'base'      => str_replace( $big, '%#%', esc_url( get_pagenum_link( $big ) ) ),
			'format'    => '?paged=%#%',
			'prev_next' => true,
			'prev_text' => '«',
			'next_text' => '»',
			'current'   => max( 1, $paged ),
			'total'     => $query->max_num_pages,
			'type'      => 'list'
		) );

	$pagination = str_replace( 'page-numbers', 'pagination', $links );

	echo $pagination;
}


/* template-homepage.php */
<?php
$paged = ( get_query_var('page') ) ? get_query_var('page') : 1;
$query_args = array(
	'post_type' => 'post',
	'order' => 'ASC',
	'posts_per_page' => 4,
	'paged' => $paged
);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $query_args );
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
<div class="articles">
	<div class="row columns">
		<?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
			<article class="large-3 medium-6 small-12 column article">
				<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
				<?php the_content( $more_link_text , $strip_teaser ); ?>
			</article>
		<?php endwhile; ?>
	</div>
	<div class="row columns pagination"><?php echo foundation_pagination($the_query); ?></div>
</div>

<?php endif; ?>