Westport Magazine, Sept/Oct 2020

// black-owned businesses Guide to Fairfield County // special report Inside the Jennifer Dulos Case //

ON THE HORIZON

Remember when everything seemed possible? For these 10 local teens, it is—and it starts with top grades, gold medals, charitable work, founding clubs of every sort, and more.

We should learn from them

pg. 48

SHOP LOCAL

plus!

SPECIAL WEDDING SECTION Expert tips for your big day pg. 41

Fall fashion trends and where to get them here

pg. 78

DESIGN

athome a-list finalists revealed!

Your black book to home design pros prudence bailey's makeover with a refreshing pop of color distancedesigns reimagines work spaces for the "new normal"

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TEEN TO WATCH Caroline McCall, track star, honor student and future lawyer

women's bracelets

covntents SEPT/OCT 2020 vol. 22 | issue 5

features

15

48

departments 12 EDITOR’S LETTER

by dia ne ta l b ot semb rot

FULL SPEED Move over twenty-somethings, a fresh new batch of go-getters is set to take the stage—and from a look at all of their achievements so far, they’re going to rule brilliantly.

15 STATUS REPORT

BUZZ Black-owned businesses Teen documentary filmmaker CEO or ONS

by dia ne se m rbrot

64

Sharon Dorram Westport’s history in a bottle College Covid-19 concerns

WHERE IS SHE? A deep dive into the Jennifer Dulos case, and what it means for the issue of domestic violence in Fairfield County, Plus, know the signs and where to seek help. by t i mot h y d um as

GO Test-driving a Toyota HOME Prudence Bailey’s makes over a house

66

78

Staying organized Weston estate

Office space now

FALL FASHION Now is the time to dress for you— indulge in fabrics that feel good, colors that lift your spirit, cuts that flatter and move with you.

38 FINANCE FIX

When family asks for money 41 VOWS

by m e g a n g ag non

99 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

86ARDS

100 POSTSCRIPT

AW TS nd IST A-L INALIS ent arou r m u F e o v s

pro n’t mis o n ing im Mak house? D elebratio d the nnual c ture an a chitec gn. of ar erior desi t in

36

by d onna mof f ly

above: Kitt Shapiro of WEST below: Working during Covid-19

on the c over caroline mccall, one of our teens to watch | photo gr aphy by pam z aremba WESTPORT SEPT/OCT 2020, VOL. 22, NO. 5. WESTPORT (USPS/ISSN 1941-9821) is published bi-monthly by Moffly Media, Inc., 205 Main St., Westport, CT 06880. Periodical postage paid at Westport, CT, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes (Form 3579) to WESTPORT PO BOX 9309, Big Sandy, TX 75755-9607. U.S. Subscription rates: $19.95/1 year, $34.95/2 years; Canada and Foreign $44/1 year, $72/2 years. westportmag.com

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PHOTO OF KITT SHAPIRO BY JERRY GRAHAM; OFFICE, CONTRIBUTED

pg.

Special Weddings Section

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editor’s letter

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STARS AMONG US

westportmag.com

12

in just academics. These teens also have extracurriculars, like music, dance, theater; volunteer work and student body leadership positions; and international athletic competition.

The world, it’s clear to see, is their oyster.

And while the pandemic has a tsunami-sized interruption to their big plans, anyone who reads their stories will come away confident that they will find a way. That’s what changemakers do.

About those stories—I’d like to add that I am grateful to each and everyone one of them for taking the time to answer my questions so thoughtfully. Having just shortened the text to fit the space, I can share that making cuts was excruciating; I didn’t want you to miss out on the full picture of their accomplishments, charm and character. I hope what remains is enough to see how amazing they are. I also want to add that we were not able to send a photographer because of the pandemic. The teens stepped up and submitted images. I am thankful that despite the considerable demands on their time, they either found photos or hired a pro. This extra effort, so typical of these teens, did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

I hope the piece comforts and inspires you.

We’re headed somewhere good.

diane.sembrot@moffly.com

WILLIAM TAUFIC

I

am also taking measurements of a star cluster to understand the correlation between the color and brightness of different stars in the cluster.” This is an actual quote from our “Teens to Watch” story. I’d like to point out two things about it. First, he used the word “also”—as in, he does more.

As it turns out, measuring star clusters, as fascinating as it is, is somehow the least interesting thing about this local student.

He eats physics for breakfast. And, second: I don’t know what a star cluster is; I didn’t know people measured them; and I wouldn’t have any idea what to do with measurements of one.

The takeaway that best consoles me on this humiliation is that this Westporter will be learning even more once he leaves high school. Why does that soothe me? If he’s going to understand more about the universe that I ever even knew existed, at least he’ll be able to further his education and apply it…to something he’ll understand (since I don’t) and almost certainly better the world—or even the universe. Point is, we’re in good hands, people.

And this is just one teen. In this issue, we present ten local teens who will remind us that we didn’t work hard enough in high school— and that we have an amazing education system here. We’re able to find the passion and talent in young people and guide and nurture them to areas of study.

Of course, no high achiever from Westport, Weston or Wilton would succeed

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER WESTPORT

south norwalk, connecticut | p. 203.563.0553

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OPEN FOR BUSINESS

KITT SHAPIRO BY JERRY GRAHAM; KELVIN SMITH BY ANNA PAULA PACHECO

Kitt Shapiro, owner of West boutique

SUPPORTING BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS in Fairfield County

by jill johnson

Kelvin Smith, owner of Hustle gym

T

he video footage of the brutal death of George Floyd elicited a collective gasp of horror from our country, ubiquitous protests and fervent dinnertable discussions. We know Black lives matter; we know white privilege has nudged many of us along the path to cushy homes in towns with top-ranking schools; but many of us don’t know how to further racial equality beyond turning our Instagram stories black.

KELVIN SMITH, owner of the gym Hustle, offers some encouraging input. “Personally, I haven’t felt any racial bias in New Canaan,” he says. “The owners of the building where I lease the gym—all white men—have been amazing. I go in local stores and know people on a first-name basis. I’ve even been pulled over by police, and they’ve been nice and say, ‘Hey, you’re speeding a little. Just take it easy.’” Smith, who lives in Stamford, brought his fouryear-old daughter to New Canaan’s Black Lives Matter protest. But he emphasizes there’s more we can do: “Educate yourself on true Black history—not just Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King Jr. Educate your children. That’s the huge thing, so when they become leaders, they are exposed to other cultures and empathetic. With exposure and education, our society will be so much better. You can donate and march now, but it’s truly about the future.”

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

15

Dr. Kim Nichols, owner of NicholsMD and SkinLab

DR. KIM NICHOLS, who owns NicholsMD of Greenwich and SkinLab in Stamford, agrees. “As a mother, I believe having meaningful conversations with your children about racism and social injustices in our country is a great start,” she says. “As a business owner and Black woman, I encourage companies to hire from diverse technical programs, colleges and universities.” She adds,

“Sometimes I am told—both explicitly and implicitly—that I wouldn’t have succeeded if not for special treatment due to affirmative action initiatives; in other words, that I can’t compete on merit alone. My answer is just to continue to work hard, be proud of who I am and to try to be a model for others.”

CLAUDETTE ROTHMAN owns Claudette’s in Old Greenwich, an eclectic women’s westportmag.com

16

clothing and accessories store “catering to women of every age, body type and economic status.” She is grateful for the support of “this fantastic community. I have lived in Greenwich for more than twenty-five years, and I’ve owned my store for over eight years.

I see myself as a local businessperson who happens to be a woman and a person of color, and I hope that’s how my customers view me.”

Unless they are aware famous singer Eartha Kitt is her mom, customers don’t realize the owner of the boutique West in Westport has an African American background. KITT SHAPIRO bought the boutique two years ago—perfectly encapsulated in the tagline: If Chanel and Jimi Hendrix had a daughter.

Shapiro says, “I know people look at me— my mother was Black and my father White— and don’t realize it because of my skin tone. I grew up hearing stories of my mother’s life in the South. Those stories are still in existence in more places than we realize, and that’s clear from the news. It’s really important, as uncomfortable as it is, that we all talk about it. I walk into a store and don’t get prejudged because of my skin color. We need to realize we are not all treated the same, just based on how we look. We live in a bubble a lot of the time and don’t want to face the reality.

We need to keep the conversation going.”

Shapiro also emphasizes the urgency to support local businesses now so that they can survive, which in turn bolsters the community connection we are all craving.

JERRI GRAHAM, a Black woman, photographer and Westport mom, offered two straightforward suggestions in Dan Woog’s 06880 blog: foster relationships with your Black neighbors and “put your money where your mouth is; support Black-owned companies.” To help you do that, we have compiled a list of businesses in Fairfield County that have Black owners or partners.

Please join us in growing this directory by sending us any listings we missed (email us at editor@westportmag.com) and we will add it to our list at ilovefc.com/ blackownedbusinesses. Let’s keep the conversation going.

CONTRIBUTED

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PLACES SHOPS CLAUDETTE’S Women’s Clothing

YOU WILL LOVE TO

SHOP, VISIT, BOOK & EAT

HUSTLE 45 Grove Street, New Canaan 203-807-2300 hustlefitness andathletics.com

177 Sound Beach Avenue Old Greenwich 203-990-0600 claudettestyles.com

OWNER: KELVIN SMITH

OWNER: CLAUDETTE ROTHMAN

PURE BARRE

INSIDE THE ARMOIRE Fine Lingerie 45 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich 203-422-2055

OWNER: PAULINE SIMPSON

LACE AFFAIRE

Lingerie, Swimwear, Gifts 23 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-529-3793 laceaffaire.com

OWNER: CARLINE DEAN

WEST

Women’s Clothing 117 Post Road East, Westport 203-557-4157 west2westport.com

280 Railroad Avenue, Greenwich 203-489-3500 purebarre.com/location/ greenwich-ct

OWNER: ASHLEY ALLEN

REVOLUTION TRAINING 579 Pacific Street, Stamford 203-355-2666 revolutiontrainingct .com

OWNER: AHMAD MICKENS

S E RV I C E S ALEXANDRE1983 PHOTOGRAPHY Stamford alxphotog.com

OWNER: ADRIAN ALEXANDRE ALLEN

OWNERS: PAUL AND BRIAN HERMAN

Wellness Events Stamford thesolhaus.com

OWNER: DEMETRIUS GLOVER

SUPER SCISSORS

LASH BROW CENTER 70 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-770-0321 ctlashbrow.com

OWNER: GISELE WORKMAN TYLER

OWNER: MELISHA NEWELL

LEARN TECH TEACH

HANDYMAN/ CARPENTRY

Online Course Development

100 Stuart Avenue, Norwalk, 203-829-8245

330 Railroad Avenue, Greenwich 347-554-7706 learntechteach.com

OWNER: JAMES TRUITT

OWNER: KHAITSA WASIYO

WILTON PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY 101 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton 203-529-1242 wiltonpediatricdentistry .com

OWNER: GREG MOORE

GATEWAY ART AND FRAMING 33 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-834-0020

OWNER: GORDON FLASH

JERRI GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHY 18 Riverside Avenue, Westport 203-803-5485 jerrigrahamphotography .com

OWNER: JERRI GRAHAM

190 Main Street, Westport 203-293-4564 190mainwestport.com

CHEZ COBY Haitian

OWNER: DR. ASHLEIGH SEBRO

MR. BEEZ WINDOWS & CLEANING, LLC

WINNING APPLICATIONS

203-334-2067

OWNER: BILLY THOMPSON

College Admissions Prep 73 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton 203-762-6500 winning applications.com

PICTURE THAT Art Consultants 203-977-8203 picturethatart.com

OWNER: STEPHANIE KLEIN WASSINK

FOUNDING OWNER: VALERIE COOPER

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

17

NO LEFTOVERS

Jamaican/Caribbean 182 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk 203-318-6250 noleftovers restaurant .com

OWNER: LLOYD MELLAD

PEOPLE’S CHOICE JAMAICAN AMERICAN RESTAURANT

111 Main Street, Norwalk 203-956-5625

Jamaican 77 Wall Street, Norwalk 203-838-8272

OWNER: MARGARET CHERY

OWNER: DUDLEY FOSTER

HERB’S PLACE

SOUL TASTY

Hair Salon 1 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-210-7250 superscissorswilton .business.site

203-650-5295

190 MAIN Seafood and Tapas

SOLHAUS

OWNER: CARLINE DEAN

OWNER: MARC ANDRE

R E STAU R A N T S/ C AT E R I NG

OWNER: MELISSA GORMAN

23 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-762-6140 illuminationsalon.com

HEATING/AC/ PROPANE SERVICE AND MANAGEMENT

2215 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield 203-916-4949 doubleupdancestudio.com

OWNER: KIM NICHOLS

ILLUMINATION SALON AND COLOR BAR

FITNESS

DOUBLE UP DANCE STUDIO

50 Old Field Point Road, Greenwich, 203-8624000; 24 Harbor Point Road, Stamford, 203-862-4006 kimnicholsmd.com

OWNER: DR. KIKELOMO OTUYELU-GARRITANO

34 Sherman Street, Fairfield 203-979-0589 mgandregroup.com

OWNER: LYNROY NELSON

Dermatologist, SkinLab

65 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton 203-409-2539 herwellnesshealthcenter .com

MARC G. ANDRE ARCHITECTS

10 Bay Street, Westport 203-557-3040

KIM NICHOLS MD

HER WELLNESS CENTER

OWNER: KITT SHAPIRO

BODY PULSE FITNESS CENTER

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Food Truck 120 Water Street, Norwalk herbsplacenorwalk.net

OWNER: HERB EDMONDSON

JEFF’S BBQ & CATERING BBQ, Rubs and Sauces 203-852-0041 jeffsbbqandcatering.com

OWNER: JEFF ESAW

LA PERLE

AmericanCaribbean Cuisine 15 Bank Street, Stamford, 203-388-8600 laperlect.com

OWNERS: SMITH ST. JUSTE, PETER MEDOIT, HAROLD JEAN-FELIX

MISS BARBARA JEAN’S SOUL FOOD Soul Food

115 Main Street, Norwalk 203-939-9598 msbarbarajeans.com

OWNER: BARBARA JEAN

Soul Food 29 Main Street, Stamford 203-504-2625 soultastyct.com

OWNER: JEAN GABRIEL

TACO DADDY Contemporary Mexican 121 Towne Street, Stamford 203-541-5770 tacodaddy stamford.com

PARTNER: MO MAJOR

TEFF Ethiopian/Eritrean 113 West Main Street, Stamford 203-998-7474 teffstamford.com

OWNERS: MEKONENMENGESHA FAMILY

EMAIL US AT EDITOR@ WESTPORTMAG .COM IF THERE ARE OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT.

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CREATING A SCENE WESTON HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AND FILMMAKER ZANDER COLMAN by diane sembrot

H

Why did you decide to make the documentary Every Drop Counts?

“Last year, I took advanced videography at Weston High School and my teacher, Mr. Brencher, told us about the national C-SPAN Student Cam 2020. The contest asked students to make a five-minute film about the issue you most want presidential candidates to address during the campaign. I choose to focus on water pollution because I was also taking an environmental science course and environmental issues are important to me.

It took me almost five months to research, write, film and edit the documentary. It was a really rewarding experience and I got an honorable mention.”

What were you surprised to learn about water pollution when making this film?

“The biggest surprise was when Covid-19 struck and the lockdown forced everyone to stay home

stressed the importance of putting a face to a cause. That was powerful.”

above: Documentary filmmaker Zander Colman

and off the roads. There were a lot of studies citing the drastic drop in air pollution as soon as people sheltered-in-place, but nothing about water pollution. Many reports said water around the world looked cleaner, but most researchers couldn’t access their test sites to prove this.

But I could. I had been testing four different local waterways in our area since September and within weeks of the lockdown, the levels of heavy metals dropped significantly in every single waterway.”

What do hope people take away from the film?

“The two main takeaways of my film are that humans are the ones polluting the water so we are the ones who can reverse our mistakes and clean the water. The second takeaway came from my interview with Senator Richard Blumenthal in the film. I asked him what my generation can do to make the biggest difference and he answered: activism. He

westportmag.com

18

You also made a film about an Olympic hopeful. How was that process different?

“This was very different because it focused on a person and her real-life experience of coping with the cancellation of the Olympic trials. They were three days away and she was at her peak physical and psychological condition only to find out that she had to wait a full year longer.

She was planning to retire after this year no matter whether she made the Olympics or not.

So it was very emotional to hear her story and inspiring to witness her strength.”

What have you learned about filmmaking?

“I have been making films for many years.

The more I make them, the more I see what a great platform it is for storytelling. Filmmaking involves so many aspects from scriptwriting to interviewing, editing to sound, and small but important things that most of the audience likely wouldn’t notice while watching the film, like placing the subject in the correct section of the screen or tailoring music to fit with the camera cuts.”

What was the biggest challenge?

“Being successful requires being able to adapt and be flexible because unexpected things happen, and you have to be able to figure out how to solve a challenge you might not have predicted.”

You established a business, Zander Colman Photography, too. What have you learned from this experience so far?

“Last year I ran my own basketball camp, Z-Hoops Skillz n’ Drillz, with sixteen campers and five student coaches. This year we had to postpone the camp because of Covid-19.

Since I had free time and an urge to continue filmmaking, I reached out to some real estate agents and homeowners selling their homes and offered my drone photography and videography services. This type of storytelling has a very different audience than I’m used to, so I have learned a lot about how to cater to different clients.”

What’s next for you?

“This fall I start my senior year. I want to study film in college, so I hope to get into the best film school I can and continue to follow my passion.”

CONTRIBUTED

ow many of us knew what we wanted to be when we were in high school?

How many of us would have claimed the title of our ambitions? Zander Colman did. “I am a documentary filmmaker,” he told us when he reached out about his work.

The Weston High School senior wanted to get the word out about his projects—and he’s jumping into the deep end: “I have made documentaries on water pollution, PFAS contamination and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

He’s learning by doing, and he’s getting good fast. “My water pollution documentary Every Drop Counts won Honorable Mention in the 2020 C-SPAN StudentCam competition,” he says. His latest project is about a Weston rower just three days from her Olympic trials when Covid-19 changed the world; the trials were postponed a year. “She was at her peak fitness, both physically and psychologically,” he says. “The pandemic changed her life.”

She has since decided to try for the gold again. (See it on our website at westportmag. com, and see more about the Colman at colmanbros.com/film.html.) Here’s more of what Colman told Westport magazine about his emerging career.

buzz

HOMETOWN CEO NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF ONS, TIM CORVINO, MD, RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS

by eliz abeth hole

A

You joined ONS in February. Then the pandemic hit. What kind of challenges did you face?

The biggest change when I first arrived at ONS was working through the Covid-19 crisis while staying focused on the future and growth opportunities for the next two to five years. Organizations need to continually evolve to remain vital and relevant. I knew it was important to be disciplined about looking ahead beyond the immediate circumstances.

What’s the best part about being back in your hometown?

So much. It feels like home; I love the community; and I’m so excited for my wife, Dina, and my two children, Emma and Liam, to experience living here. The beaches, the food, the Yankees... the list goes on and on.

How did your background in emergency medicine prepare you for your new position?

One of the unique attributes of emergency medicine is that you

Besides sports medicine, what are the other specialties there?

ONS is fortunate to have 26 fellowship-trained physicians with expertise in the full spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions and injuries. Along with sports medicine, we provide minimally invasive orthopedic, spine and brain surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, outpatient and inpatient joint replacement, trauma and physical therapy.

work with physicians in every specialty in medicine and surgery, each of which has a unique set of challenges. Part of my role as CEO at ONS is to make sure our specialists are best equipped to deliver the highest level of care to patients today and in the future.

With my understanding of the specific needs of ONS specialists, I am able to work closely with them to shape our future as a practice.

It sounds like healthcare is in your blood. How did that experience inspire you to become a physician?

My mother and father were extremely important in shaping my career in healthcare. I learned a lot from my dad about the importance of serving the needs of the community and putting the patient first and foremost in the center of all decisions. While president of Greenwich Hospital, my dad worked with an incredible team of professionals. I learned so much from getting to know each of them. I also learned the importance of working as a team and the art of compromise. My mother’s influence was equally important. She served as the Director of Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center for twenty years.

I was a pharmacy intern at the

ONS physicians serve as team doctors for New Canaan High School and Darien football and lacrosse. Are your doctors involved in other local organizations?

Working with patients of all ages to keep them healthy and active is central to our mission. ONS physicians provide team support to more than a dozen youth sports organizations in our area, including Greenwich High School, Greenwich Academy, Iona Prep and White Plains High School.

We also provide injury prevention programs for coaches, parents and student athletes to help our youth avoid injuries that can affect their play, and perhaps become a chronic problem later in life.

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later part of her career, where I was fortunate to witness so many memorable moments with her that still impact my approach to healthcare delivery today. I never contemplated a career outside of medicine because of them.

What are some of your goals as CEO? The primary goal is to continue our mission of providing the highest standard of orthopedic and neurosurgical care through professional collaboration and compassion for our patients.

With the emphasis on safety, we launched the telemedicine services and adapted our medical offices to meet CDC standards. We are also presenting patients in need of joint replacement with a same day, outpatient option, so they can recover in the comfort and safety of home. Looking ahead, my goal is to make it possible for ONS to stay ahead of the pack with cutting-edge innovation and patient-centered care and expand our unique brand of care through strategic partnerships with practices that share our high standards and values. With the support and commitment throughout the entire organization, I know we will accomplish great things.

CONTRIBUTED

fter growing up in Greenwich and working in Stamford Hospital’s emergency room, Tim Corvino, MD, continued his profession in the Midwest and Southeast. The son of parents in the medical field, he spent more than a decade at Emergency Medicine Physicians in Canton, Ohio, before heading to the Chicago area, where he was president of Integrated Acute Care. Most recently, he served as chief operating officer at Covenant Physician Partners in Nashville. As the newly appointed CEO of the Greenwich-based Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery Specialists (ONS), Dr. Corvino is thrilled with his new role—and the opportunity to raise his family in Fairfield County.

singular in design “Edgy incarnations of luxury” Condé Nast Traveler

winvianfarm.com

buzz

SETTING THE TONE A COLORIST TO THE STARS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD by emily liebert

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elebrity hair guru SHARON DORRAM has arrived and she’s here to stay. In Westport, that is. More specifically, at DREAM SPA & SALON, where she’s working her magic. A legend in the industry, and co-owner/founder of Sharon Dorram Color at Sally Hershberger on NYC’s Upper East Side, Sharon’s roster of A-list clients includes (but is definitely not limited to) Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Priyanka Chopra, Uma Thurman, Kate Winslet, Meg Ryan, and Christie Brinkley. Whether you desire the perfect shade of baby blonde, a deep mahogany brown or a fantastic cedar red, take a seat in Sharon’s chair. Trust me, you will come away looking like the best version of yourself.

You own a well-known salon in NYC with Sally Hershberger. What drew you to Westport and Dream Spa & Salon?

"I moved to Greenwich six years ago and fell in love with the communities of Greenwich and Westport. I met Lori Dodd, the owner of Dream, and collaborated with her at her Greenwich location for three years, so it was the perfect fit when I decided to come to Westport."

above: Sharon Dorram

The elements of summer can be harsh on hair. Suggestions for combating the effects of things like sun and chlorine moving into fall?

"Summer is a great time to be outside and, yes, the elements always affect and fade even the best of hair colors. The ideal defense is to always wear a hat. That said, many of us simply find our hair beaten up after just a few days of sun, salt, wind and chlorine. Using superior shampoos and conditioners really does make a difference. Minimize the use of products with alcohol, like hair spray and mousse. I love Philip B. Russian Amber Imperial Shampoo and Virtue Restorative Treatment Mask. My beauty secret is to add Virtue ColorKick to all of my colors and in my conditioning treatments. It helps protect the follicles, prevents fade, and extends the life of hair color."

What are some color trends for fall 2020?

"For fall we will see less highlighting and more tonal all over color. From rich neutral honey blondes to deep chocolate brunettes. I love

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Are there Covid-19 guidelines in place at Dream, since clients will want to be cautious?

"In light of the recent pandemic, I had to make some difficult decisions on how I would move forward with my clients. I’ve always loved an intimate environment—my NYC salon has only twelve chairs per floor. I knew there would be a need for social distancing in the current climate, and I wanted to be able to give my clients the full attention they deserve. In the smaller space at Dream, I can work by myself with only my three assistants. We’re able to completely control our surroundings. Everything has been treated with an antibacterial, antimicrobial spray from PermaSafe, which lasts up to six months. We take the temperatures of all staff and clients daily, and we social distance with gloves, masks and optional visors as needed. We disinfect the chairs, hood dryers and sinks between each appointment. Clients text us when they arrive in the parking lot and then we text them when we are ready, so as not to overcrowd the salon. There’s no coffee/tea, just small water bottles are available. My first week I saw so many familiar faces from as far away as Florida, Maine, Boston, Rhode Island, The Hamptons, Manhattan and New Jersey. The outpouring of support and the excitement of people to finally have their hair colored and cut has been overwhelming. Every day I receive messages from clients telling me this was the highlight of their pandemic experience—no pun intended."

Will you be staying in Westport once the pandemic is over?

"I am loving working in Westport and loving meeting so many new clients here. There is such a warmth within this community, and it’s heartening how people aren’t afraid to share a good thing. So yes! I intend to continue working in Westport and, as long as there’s a demand, I will have a weekly presence at Dream Spa & Salon."

CONTRIBUTED

Some of the biggest stars in the world rely on you for their hair color. What’s your secret?

"I’ve always believed that there is no mystery to hair color. I studied art in college and beyond, and I tend to draw from my years of mixing paint color as a textile designer and as a weaver. For my placement of color, I see hair three dimensionally from studying sculpture.

Many times when I’m correcting people’s hair color, I explain to them that it takes two visits for them to truly reap the benefits of what I do.

The first appointment is devoted to undoing their existing color and the second one is when I really show clients what I’m capable of. My signature is natural color, like a child’s sun-kissed hair, with an opulent or dynamic edge."

seeing a fiery redhead, although you definitely have to have the personality to carry it off! My blondes take it a notch deeper with lowlights and highlights which are, overall, softer but with lifting and emphasizing around the hairline for brightness and a bit of pop."

THE BEST ORTHOPEDICS

BY FAR IS RIGHT HERE. Hospital for Special Surgery and Stamford Health have teamed up to bring world-class orthopedic care closer to you.

Our team of experts remains dedicated to making safe, responsible musculoskeletal care available – wherever you are.

To learn more about our in-person and virtual appointment options, visit HSS.edu/StamfordHealth

HSS Stamford, 1 Blachley Rd, Stamford, CT 06902 Most major insurance plans accepted. New patients welcome.

buzz

right: Postcard from Bill Scheffler book about local postcard history • left: The little bottle with a lot of local history

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Underground for 100 years in a WESTPORT BACKYARD

W

hile in their backyard last summer, Barbara Pearson-Rac and Frank Rac of Kings Highway South, found a trove of discarded articles. Frank, a collector of antique glass, was thrilled with a particular find: a five-inch bottle marked with the raised words: “THE WESTPORT DRUG CO.; C.G.GREENE.O.SIMPSON; WESTPORT, CONN CT.” The only other clue to its origin or use was the word “DRUG,” which indicated that it was used for a healing liquid or elixir—that is, an apothecary usage. The couple was intrigued to find more, since the bottle was from Westport.

Barbara contacted the prior education director of the Westport Historical Society (now Westport Museum for History and Culture, WMHC), Elizabeth Devoll for help. She suggested it would be best to contact me, the House Historian at WMHC, to do research.

Using the information on the bottle, I found one reference to the Westport Drug Co. in an article published on Dan Woog’s website, “06880—Where Westport meets the world,” in 2016. It provided a similar photograph of a bottle but with slightly different information and comments from Jacques Voris, a Westport resident. I broadened my research and approached Russ Levine, the oldest (by longevity, not age) in the drug-store business in Westport. Russ, the registered pharmacist and

owner of the Colonial Druggists and Surgical store since 1968, owned a similarly etched bottle in his private collection. He said that in the early 1900s, drug stores normally provided their own medicinal mix of certain drugs, bottled in medicine-type containers etched with their name. (He added that a few medicinal drug stores still provide their own formulated medicines, under prescription control, though none are in Westport.)

Doing more research, at the Town Clerk’s Office, I found helpful records. It seems that in 1908 Luin Switzer and William Taylor of Southport and Charles H. Van Buren of New York City, incorporated a company called the Westport Drug Company. Also, a document revealed that the two names etched on the bottle were directors of the Westport Drug Company.

They leased the “westerly half of the first floor of the building,” known as the Toquet Building, situated on the Southerly side of State Street.

The address during 1909–28 was 25 State Street East, according to an advertisement in the Westport street directory of 1927–28. In the 1929 street directory, the address changed to “9 Main St., opposite the Y.M.C.A.” According to the Westport tax records and street directories, the Westport Drug Company store ceased to operate in 1936 and was replaced by Gray’s Drug Store at 9 Main Street. westportmag.com

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A postcard from the William (Bill) Scheffler’s book, Postcard History Series of Westport and Weston in Vintage Postcards, published in 1998 (still available), confirms the location of the Westport Drug Company.

One postcard (see above, left), while date not specified, clearly depicts the location of the Westport Drug Co at the site of space now occupied by Tiffany & Co. The Westport Drug Co. store sign is displayed on the right upper side of the postcard.

The next mystery was the etched markings at the bottom of the bottle: W. T. Co., middle line “B” and bottom of “U.S.A.” An Internet search found that these initials were for Whitall Tatum & Co of Millville, New Jersey. In 1806 it manufactured cylinder window glass, and in 1820 it started producing bottles for druggists.

The timeline for production of this specific bottle was between 1901 and 1924 (based on the mark at the bottom of the bottle, which changed over time). Prior to 1901, the W. T. & Co. mark included the ampersand and three stars. After 1924, according to bottle collectors, these bottles were phased out as paper labels took over. Since the Westport Drug Co. was started in 1909, this bottle was manufactured between 1909 and 1924. This tiny bottle holds a lot of history. (Something you can’t identify? Bring it to me, the House Historian.)

CONTRIBUTED

by b ob weingarten (westp ort historical sleu th)

buzz B A C K T O S C H O O L R E - E D U C AT I O N

college+covid=concerns RETHINKING NORMAL SCHOOL JITTERS IN A PANDEMIC

No. 1

HOW IS THIS YEAR DIFFERENT? This year has, undoubtedly, been unusual for students of all ages with classes being held virtually due to the outbreak of Covid19; this is especially true for high school seniors who felt robbed of prominent

milestones like prom and graduation, which signify the transition from high school to college. This shift is challenging for teens under normal circumstances but has been further complicated by the myriad challenges resulting from the pandemic.

One thing is for sure: College experiences this

fall will be vastly different than those of previous years.

No. 3

No. 2

For parents and guardians, it is already scary to send your child off to college; these fears are magnified in the midst of this pandemic. But there are ways you can help. Remember that you raised and prepared your child as best you could and taught values that you believed would serve them well.

Though navigating the changes in your relationship may be challenging, having an honest conversation with your child about expectations for each other will facilitate effective communication and provide appropriate growing space for

WHAT SHOULD PARENTS EXPECT?

WHAT’S ONE OF THE CHALLENGES OF COVID?” In college, teens explore and identify who they are and who they want to be.

Connecting with others plays a large role in this process and an unsuccessful integration into their communities may impact selfesteem and selfconcept. Though essential to reduce the transmission rate of Covid-19, the mandate to wear facemasks at all times (on a state-by-state basis) and practice social distancing may have undesired consequences.

For example, it may be challenging to relate to and bond with peers because of these barriers to emotional intimacy and the fact that social gatherings will be largely prohibited.

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your child to test their independence.

Some students may be thrilled to start college and others may be apprehensive.

There is no right or wrong way to feel during this time.

Your thoughts and feelings, as well as your child’s, are valid and should be respected. Check in sometimes, but do not micromanage because ‘helicopter parenting’ not only frustrates teens, but also communicates that you do not believe they have the ability to figure things out for themselves. They will probably struggle at times; that is okay.

Reassure them that you are only a phone call away if they need you and trust that, if they do, they will call.

No. 4

WHAT IF YOUR CHILD IS STRUGGLING? While some emotional difficulty is normal, and may be more likely during Covid-19, mental health concerns should always be addressed. With social-distancing policies in place on campuses, students are at a greater risk of feeling isolated and experiencing anxiety and depression. Be aware of these risks and their interactions with alcohol and substances, disordered eating, reckless behavior, unprotected sex, selfharm and suicide. If you believe your child is suffering, please encourage them to seek assistance from an appropriate mental health provider and/or emergency services and consider treatment options. As a local practitioner and community member, please know that I am happy to help guide you and your child to appropriate resources or assist in any way during this challenging time.

PORTRAIT OF SCHIFF BY ANGELO TUCCI; COLLEGE PHOTOS ©HALFPOINT - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

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arents have waited eighteen years to send their child off to college. Students have worked all those years to prepare for the big transition.

But because of the pandemic, plans had to evolve with the ever-changing news and state mandates. Will classes be held on campus or virtual? Will housing be available? Will class sizes be restricted? A lot of questions popped up, adding to the normal nervous energy of major life changes. Westport magazine asked CAROLINE H. SCHIFF (carolinehschiff.com), a Westport psychotherapist, how to help our teens.

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b y chris hodenfield

SMOOTH OPERATOR

TOYOTA PACKS A LOT OF WONDER INTO ITS NEWLY SHARPENED CAMRY

Camry and wrapped it in svelte and swoopy styling. It is now no disgrace in the driveway.

And it could be in that driveway a long time: 200,000 trouble-free miles out a of Camry is nothing.

The basic four-cylinder is smooth, surprisingly strong and outrageously thrifty. It averages 32 mpg and on long highway cruises expect up to 44 mpg. And this is a normal engine without any kind of hybrid assist. Opt up for the slightly more expensive hybrid edition and you will see mileage in the 50s. Toyota just has this way of taking ferociously advanced

technology and making it seem ho-hum normal.

Toyota now has about 17 versions of Camry to choose from.

The sleeker, optioned-up XSE has a muscular 301-horsepower V6.

An all-wheel-drive version, a first for the Camry, is about to hit the showrooms. And go-faster people who prefer sinister styling and taut handling moves can muscle into the TRD edition.

Even the modest LE can be taken round a spirited turn with confidence. While the stripper model has a full range of safety features, some customers will want

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to move up to better, leather seats, NAV, satellite radio, and all those goodies.

The Camry has surely come a long way in its 37 years of existence.

And as any owner will tell you, it’s going to go a long way, too.

STATS TOYOTA CAMRY LE Drivetrain: 203 hp 2.5-liter 4 (Optional hybrid or V6).

Front-wheel drive.

Base price: $25,000 EPA mileage ratings: 28 city/39 highway

CONTRIBUTED

Y

our reviewer has parked plenty of high-priced rides in his driveway.

Some neighbors have actually wondered what’s going on. The thing is, when manufacturers send us cars for review, the vehicles are often maximized, optioned-out grandees.

The question today, however, is: What can you get in today’s basic stripped-down sedan? A lot, it turns out. The sedan arena is actually a competitive place for manufacturers and some beauties have come our way. Toyota, for instance, took its drab-looking

SCAP CHRYSLER | JEEP | DODGE | RAM

home

before

DINING ROOM The dining room before had light, but the window treatment had to go.

Designer Prudence Bailey also ushered in a bright-white palette and fresh lighting above the round table.

pop to it

THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS OF A PRUDENCE BAILEY DESIGN

by diane sembrot • phot o gr aphy by julia dags

F

or very good and sound reasons, we’ve become a nation of homebodies. It’s just the way it is for now. That’s why it makes sense to create a nurturing environment at home. Look around. Does your space make you feel safe and joyful? Does it work for the many demands to today’s living? Is it soothing on your overtaxed nerves?

Westport magazine caught up with Prudence Bailey, founder and principal designer of Prudence Home + Design (prudencehomeanddesign.com), a fullservice interior design firm based in Darien, though her clients are found throughout New England, and her list includes celebrity actors and bloggers in Fairfield County. She is busy infusing area homes with clean, elegant, livable

style through top-to-bottom home renovations or just focused room makeovers. That means she works with clients, for example, to review architect’s plans and create room renderings as well as select a color palette and custom millwork, among plenty of other details that are needed for a beautiful transformation.

Here’s what we asked her about a particular area project she completed. The owners’s daughter found the design firm. They were ready and prepared to make a change, so the daughter took charge and ran with the idea; she brought in the pros.

If we missed a question you have, you might check out her “Dear Prudence” series on social media—her design team addresses her followers’s specific design dilemmas. westportmag.com

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Was this project a complete renovation?

“For the most part, we completely renovated each space, including a full kitchen and powder room renovation.”

What were some of your initial impressions of the home?

“I wanted to make sure when taking on this project that they were open to making the changes needed to give them the spaces they wanted.

Sometimes as designers, we are constrained by furniture the client feels they need to keep, even though they are wrong for the space. It’s our job to tell them they will never achieve the rooms they want with their existing furniture. This project was fun

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31

before

K I TC H E N The kitchen called for a big commitment, but the dramatic payoff speaks for itself— fresh and livable.

because they truly understood that, even though it meant spending more money. For instance, they had just purchased a large sectional for the family room that was ill fitting, and we told them it wasn’t going to work in the new plan.”

What were some of the other big changes?

“It seems like every room was a major change. The before-andafter images for this project are dramatic. The kitchen is definitely the most dramatic. It’s funny because a kitchen renovation was not part of the original scope of

You’re not afraid of bold colors.

How do you make it work?

“It’s all in how you balance them.

We try to not go too far in any one direction. For instance, if we are doing dark sofas, then we will have lighter chairs or patterned ones usually. It’s all a balance between light and dark.”

work. They asked my opinion on what to do, as they were thinking of just painting the cabinets white.

Sometimes it’s hard to have that honest conversation, because it’s not like I want to come in and tell them to wipe the slate clean and start over, but many times that’s the only way to deliver what they want. The kitchen was one where if they wanted to change it, painting the cabinets was not going to get them their dream kitchen. There is so much trust in the relationship between a designer and their clients and that is never lost on us.”

What’s the thought process about white walls versus wallpaper in this project?

“The homeowner is an artist and creates the most beautiful silk paintings in the traditional Japanese style. The dragon in the dining

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room is her work for which we had a custom Lucite stand off frame created. We knew we wanted to highlight the art in her home so we chose white walls. The only wallpaper in the project is on the dining room ceiling, and it is a gorgeous white with gold threads

by Elitis. The elements in this home seem simple, but they can be quite complex up close.”

With this project, what’s the magic of layering colors, patterns and textures?

“We love to mix patterns! It takes time to find the right mix since it’s

LIVING ROOM The living room features not only color but also pattern play that feels cohesive yet always interesting.

FLASH ROUND 5 questions on interior design 1

Favorite color now: “Green”

2

Good design means: “A relaxed mind.”

3

Style icon: “Mary McDonald”

re befo ORE BEF

like a puzzle. Change one piece and it may all have to change. We always consider the tones of color in each fabric as well as the pattern and the scale. For this project, I knew Schumacher’s Pyne Hollyhock fabric was one of the players, and we worked the scheme until we landed on the right balance. We think it came out beautifully but, most important, our client loves it!”

What was custom-made?

“There are a number of custommade elements in this project. The dining table is custom made by Dunes and Duchess, the breakfast

nook between kitchen and family room, the family room built-ins and all the kitchen cabinetry.”

they wanted, but very hands off for the most part and really let us run with it. They were very open to our suggestions and loved the problem solving we had for the breakfast nook.”

Do you have a favorite moment?

“I absolutely love the built-in breakfast nook. They needed a dining area near their family room, but the space was not intuitive to give to them. I spent a lot of time in the space and that helped me sort it out. It came out so beautifully!”

How does this project reflect your style and mission?

“We are known for fresh and colorful interiors and this project is very fresh! We work hard to pull out our clients’ individual design style, in a very curated and elevated way, so their home feels like them. We want them to enjoy their home long after our work together is finished.”

How involved were these clients?

“My clients were was involved in the early days of our collaboration in defining the color schemes

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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4

Improve any room in an instant: “Add Mother Nature— flowers and greens, such as branches from your backyard.”

5

Favorite place in Westport: “Terrain”

home

the new school

5 TIPS on how to stay organized with virtual learning

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etting ready for a new school year always means a long to-do list and a bit of stress. This year, it’s even more so because of the mix and ever-changing protocols of in-person and virtual learning.

That’s why we turned to a fleet of professional organizers to help you prep right now. Jamie Hord, cofounder with her husband, Fillip, of HORDERLY PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZING (horderly.com), says schooling from home can be a big adjustment for any student. The company works with local organizers who do arrangement services from closet and pantries to whole houses throughout Fairfield County. Here are her tips for getting prepped.

No. 1

SET UP A “SCHOOL STATION” “Regardless of your setup at home, it’s important to create a school station somewhere in the house where your child can learn without distractions.

Whether it’s a makeshift school station in the kitchen, guest room, home office or basement, create an area where your children can sit down with their laptops, tools, reading materials and notepads to fully

hone-in on virtual learning. Schooling from a laptop can be very difficult for some children, so it’s important to create structure and set up an area that feels like a school from the comfort of home.”

No. 2

DO YOUR HOMEWORK “Try to get your children to do their homework right after school so any material they virtually learned is fresh in their mind.

No. 4

CREATE A NEW ROUTINE “Nowadays, each school has its own plan and system in place for virtual learning—some stricter than others.

At home, be avid about creating

This will not only increase their ability to retain information, but also it allows the rest of the day for fun! Virtual learning from home can be stressful for some students, so it’s important to schedule fun time or family time into their routine as well.”

routines on the weekdays that your children can follow. This could be anything from making their beds and getting ready for school in the morning, to sitting down for a few hours to learn, then lunch break, then finish the rest of the school day.”

LOST & FOUND

Organize their bedrooms, and you’ll uncover lots of work space.

No. 5

CLEAN YOUR ROOM “You’d be surprised how the organizing process trickles down to the rest of your life. Encouraging your children to keep their rooms clean, will help them stay focused on the rest of their day. It is easier to keep your day on track if you start the morning off neat and tidy. Messes tend to clutter the mind too, not just a physical space. Having a neat and organized home will help your children succeed while schooling from the same space. “

Graphic T-Shirts What teenager doesn’t love t-shirts by the dozen? Hanging seems like a space saver, but to avoid bumps in the cloth, fold and stack them on shelves— favorites in front.

The Shoes Don’t just toss shoes and sneakers into a closet. There’s comfort in being able to see them in rows. Get them off the floor and onto shelves, into pouches or in cubbies.

Makeup

No. 3

KEEP MATERIALS DIGITALLY ORGANIZED

above: Setting up for the school year is about purging the old and

“Virtual learning also includes the digital materials that

prepping for a new chapter. Think of the start of school as a clean slate and bring that into your home work space. Just the essentials and plenty of shelves to keep your desktop clear.

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You'll get your makeup done faster when things are organized, and you'll leave table and dresser tops clear. Arrange your makeup in a dedicated drawer and be sure to label.

PHOTOGRAPHS: TEEN AT DESK ©NEW AFRICA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM: INTERIOR KATARZYNA BIALASIEWICZ PHOTOGRAPHEE.EU; SIDEBAR, CONTRIBUTED BY INSTAGRAM @HORDERLY

come along with it. Make sure your children’s laptops are organized so they can access files, lesson plans or other resources as easily as possible. Make a folder on your children’s desktops for each class they are taking. Make a folder where they can keep their personal notes, and another folder for any materials a teacher has sent over. Make sure to download all necessary materials as soon as the teacher sends them so you or your children aren't scrambling to search through emails to find it.”

above: This exceptional estate offers luxury at every turn, from the expansive, wraparound balcony overlooking an infinity pool, spa, cabana and pool house to the formal dining room and high-end chef’s kitchen. below: A entry hall makes an impression, and the home office features exquisite paneling and a handsome fireplace for a serene place to work.

LYONS SHARE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL MILSTEIN/WRRE

A LARGE, PRIVATE AND ELEGANT COUNTRY ESTATE IN WESTON by diane sembrot

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eed some personal space?

How about ten acres in lower Weston? It comes with a breathtaking handsome Georgian Colonial estate named October Hill. With six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, four powder rooms, a chef ’s kitchen, and more, it’s nearly 11,000 square feet of pure sophistication—and a lot of

distance from the rest of the world.

The original owner, a Swedish diplomat and World War II industrialist, customcrafted the home to painstaking and exacting standards in which subsequent homeowners can indulge. He even brought in a team of Italian craftsmen to quarry and cut on-site all of the stone used in the construction. His

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persnickety oversight is a lasting gift—and it keeps on giving. The current owners, who have enjoyed the place for twenty-five years, have kept to the high standards when they completed an addition with impressive period detail. (The property is listed with Leslie Clarke of William Raveis Real Estate; see more at raveis.com.)

left: Expect a mix of in-office and virtual work—and create a professional-looking and productive space at home. below: Christine Stucker and James Veal, the creative force of Fairfield County's DistanceDesigns

the new of f ice

S M A R T D E S I G N I N T H E T I M E O F C O V I D - 1 9 W I T H DISTANCEDESIGNS’ J A M E S V E A L

by diane sembrot

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ust like that, The Office is dated. When Covid-19 blew into town, desk workers flew out of their offices and quickly set up shop at home. So what does the global pandemic mean for office space in Fairfield County? JAMES VEAL and CHRISTINE STUCKER are on it—they recently launched DistanceDesigns, an area architecture and interior design studio that addresses office health and safety issues and creates sustainable solutions. They look beyond retrofitting space to meet new policies and to proactively design for productivity and interaction in the new normal.

Here’s what James Veal shared.

If the traditional office is outdated due to Covid-19, what’s the future of workspaces?

“Post-Covid, companies need to change on an operational and habitual level. A redesign must be more than just placing desks six feet apart and adding hand-sanitizer stations, which could eventually erode work culture and have a negative implication on productivity.

Reduce the footprint, lessen the touchpoints and ensure that activity-based tasks can be accomplished with the safety aspect built right in. Companies still need an office space that will enhance and reinforce their brand and corporate culture, while growing and enticing talent—no matter what the industry.”

What’s the new overall goal?

“Our goal is to empower people through design while achieving proper social distancing. We are redesigning and reimagining spaces that reinforce a brand culture but in the safest way possible. We solve problems through design as we 'futureproof' the modern workspace.

There are tons of positives to office working environments, we just need to eliminate the negatives.”

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left: The new work space must define traffic flow and allow for social distancing in collaborative spaces. below: Revised floorplan design by the team

CONTRIBUTED IMAGES

If remote work is working, why have an actual office?

“The major factor people miss from the office is socializing and collaboration. In our recent survey we found that if office space design was optimized for specific tasks like collaboration, 66 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to want to undertake the specific task in an office. In addition, they are concerned about career development.

When questioned about how being in an office affects career growth, more than 72 percent of respondents answered that they believe working in a physical office with a boss, manager, mentor or colleague—as opposed to working remotely and individually—will help their career growth. Workspaces have to be a hybrid model that empowers people where they do their best work, both at home and in an office.”

How do you start designing a new office?

“Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. We are breaking with the traditional model of an office space catering to the company as a whole and packing employees into a space. New design focuses on and improves the employees’ experience and well-being.

We are well-versed in this concept through our background in retail design where we are primarily focused on the consumer experience in the environment. We break down how

consumers walk through the space, how they feel and interact with that space, what is the best for them—and then we design from that perspective. We are applying that discipline to the corporate workspace to create healthy, empowering and sustainable environments that employees will want to come back to and do their best work.”

What about technology?

“Technology plays a huge role and is a perfect example of how design can solve problems.

First, it will drive and support health and safety, as every control will be done from a personal device with limited physical touchpoints. For example, we will use technology—primarily our smartphones—to automatically turn on and off the lights, control the heating or book a meeting room. There will be docking stations for your laptops in order to limit communal electronics. All this will help enable social distancing. Second, it needs to reinforce activity-based tasks and promote productivity.

Good technology is key for collaboration, communicating with teams and supporting remote working. Our viewpoint is less is more: Companies should have three tech platforms for collaboration that are super easy, otherwise people will not use it. Seamless technology must be in place to support the activity for those in the office and those simultaneously working remotely.”

HOMEWORK James Veal on Setting Up a Remote Workspace

No. 1 FOCUS

The biggest problem that people have working remotely is distractions. They are everywhere—from the kids and the pets to the laundry and homeimprovement projects. We can all get distracted while working from home. So, start by finding a room with a lockable door.

No. 2

FUNCTION No matter your budget, design a comfortable and inspiring space—ergonomic furniture and good-quality lighting are key and help your energy level. The design is more important as it serves as the backdrop to many meetings via video conferencing.

No. 3 EXTRAS

Invest in good, professional technology, and we also recommend plants to increase your air quality and aesthetics.

No. 4

REMINDERS Figure out how you work best— what time of day, in short or long bursts. And always take time to recharge—take walks and hydrate.

Finally, a “Do Not Disturb” sign would help too!

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fınance fıx

MONEY / BY CAROL LEONETTI DANNHAUSER

INVESTING IN FAMILY WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE ASKS YOU FOR MONEY?

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opefully, your physical, mental and financial health have survived the turmoil of 2020. Hopefully, you still have a job and food on the table and the ability to pay your bills. If nothing else, the recent ups and downs have reminded you why you have a financial plan in place.

Others, maybe even your loved ones, haven’t been so fortunate.

Perhaps your brother lost his job and can’t pay the mortgage.

Maybe his bonus didn’t happen and the tuition bill is due. Maybe his family has mounting medical costs. Or maybe he shouldn’t have bought that boat after all. (You knew he couldn’t afford it!)

Whatever the case, that’s him on the phone, asking you for money. What do you do?

Many friends and relatives “are in a tough spot, asking for money,” says Andrew Shantz, senior vice-president of The Shantz Mantione Group at UBS private wealth management.

somebody’s lifestyle. You want it to be a helping hand, not be counterincentive.”

The answer comes only with transparent, honest communication. “It’s common to think about finance in terms of dollars and cents, but when it comes down to it, it’s really very emotional.”

If you think you can and should help, what is the best way to proceed: with a gift or a loan?

Each can have tax consequences (see box). Here is where an adviser can help craft creative solutions, particularly for highnet-worth individuals with significant assets and complex estate plans. You can “hand out that money with warm hands rather than cold hands,” says Shantz. Perhaps you can invest in a business, buy out a mortgage, fund a 529 college plan or creatively tap a legacy fund.

If you do opt to lend money, put the details of the arrangement in writing before handing over the money. Be sure to cover how much is owed, the interest rate, repayment term and consequences.

Understand up front that you might not get your money back. Then what happens? Will you modify the terms, take their collateral or bring them to court?

If the consequences are too scary to consider—and you can’t loan the money without resentment if you don’t get repaid—then don’t do it. W

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Gift or Loan?

Uncle Sam needs to know Dealing with the Internal Revenue Service seems like the least of your worries when considering a loved one’s request for help, but don’t overlook the paperwork or you could both be in trouble.

In general, the IRS allows taxpayers to gift up to $15,000 to another person tax-free each year.

If you lend to a loved one, you must charge interest, says the IRS, which sets the minimum interest rate you can accept.

Both parties must sign a promissory note that includes rates, terms and conditions, and you have to file tax forms each year reporting interest paid or received. Consult your tax adviser for specifics.

HEADSHOT BY TOM PICH PHOTOGRAPHY; OTHER PHOTO BY ©ALEXSKOPJE - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Andrew Shantz, SVP

“When family members need financial assistance, it can be an opportunity to help. You can think of it as an investment—in the other person. At the same time, it’s a complex situation.”

Sooner or later many loved ones might need a hand, whether that’s elderly parents with healthcare needs, or siblings going through a divorce, or kids who want to go to college or start a business or buy a house.

The quandary boils down to three questions: Can you help?

Should you help? How should you help?

Assuming that you want to help, determine first how this will affect your financial situation.

“You need to be careful that you’re not imperiling your own financial resources and goals to solve somebody else’s problem,” says Shantz, who works with high-net-worth clients. Examine your assets and the consequences of parting with them. Maintain enough cash in your “liquidity bucket” post-gift to cover from six months to two years of your cost of living without compromising your lifestyle. And be sure to have investments in place to generate 60 to 80 percent of your lifestyle cost down the road.

Should you help? “Are you solving a problem or feeding the beast?” Shantz asks. Is the need a “short-term, finite issue” that will be solved with your help?

“That’s different than subsidizing

Your health and safety are our top priorities, so the Alzheimer s Association Wal to End Alzheimer s won t be a large in person gathering this year — instead, we invite you to wal in small teams of friends and family while others in your community do the same

Sunday, October 11 Fairfield County, CT

Registe today at

alz.org/wal 2020 NATIONAL PRESENTING SPONSORS

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Exceptional Wedding Destinations Exceptional Wedding Destinations

the natural beauty and a rich heritage of the New England theAtlantic natural beauty andprovides a rich heritage of the New England Ocean Coast a picture perfect setting for Atlantic Ocean Coast provides a picture perfect setting for celebrations and weddings, small and large. From beautiful celebrations and weddings, small and large.

From beautiful rooms and event spaces with stunning waterfront views to rooms and event spaces with stunning waterfront views to exceptional cuisine, our team will cater to your every need. exceptional cuisine, our team will cater to your every need.

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One Fine Day Whether you’re newly engaged or changing plans, we’re guessing you’d love to have some help from our local wedding experts. Let the pros who style, design and shoot these events guide you towards creating a celebration to remember by megan gagnon

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places that add an elevated feminine vibe to gowns.

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Clean Lines // There was a definite return to clean lines and fabrics even before Meghan Markle walked down the aisle. Designers are going back to simple designs, but they are using luxurious and interesting fabrics to keep the gowns from being too basic.

Veils // The Plumed Serpent has always been a big fan of veils for our brides. They add romance and drama and can finish off your weddingday look beautifully.

What is fun and new now is that designers are experimenting with color and untraditional design work. One of my favorite veils is handpainted along the border with vines and flowers. Another is embroidered with light pink and blush flowers, adding just a touch of color to the bridal look.

DRESSES

Aisle Style YOUR DREAM DRESS I S W A I T I N G

Alison Luciano

Alison Luciano of THE PLUMED SERPENT knows how to get her brides to say yes to the dress.

Her guidance (and gorgeous selection) are just what you need to navigate the latest in gowns, accessories and big day looks.

240 Post Road East Westport, CT 06880 plumedserpentbridal.com

What bridal trends are you seeing for right now?

This is such an exciting time for bridal gowns and new trends. There are as many different styles and looks as there are women getting married; but I have been noticing a few trends that are popping up throughout the collections of many designers.

What are some of your favorite styles right now?

That is like asking me to pick a favorite child! My favorites are always evolving and changing as I see brides come in to try them on and fall in love. This week my favorites are from two NYC-based designers, Lela Rose and Enaura.

Rose’s gowns are the ultimate for refined preppy with a twist.

They are equally suited for a NYC black tie wedding as well as a garden wedding in the backyard. The shapes and fabrics she chooses are always so creative

Bows // Bows are having a moment again. And what’s not to love about that?

Designers are using them in creative and unexpected places— anywhere from a giant bow at the train to a super modern look where the bow is asymmetrically on the bodice. They are also showing up as delicate details on straps, belts and other unexpected

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and stylish. Enaura is on the other end of the spectrum of style and one of our new designers who is quickly becoming a favorite for me.

They are all hand embroidered and beaded, and the beading is so elegant and quiet. Their gowns don’t sparkle, they twinkle.

industry, pictures solve the problem.

They are so helpful in showing your consultant what you are looking for.

And even if you don’t have an image of the perfect gown, that’s okay, too.

Your pictures also help us see your vision and vibe for your special day.

What should a bride be thinking about before her first dress appointment?

Brides are always nervous before they come in, because they feel that they need to know exactly what it is they want.

But that is absolutely not the case.

Have an open mind. You might think that you know exactly what you want, but sometimes your consultant will throw you a curveball and show you something unexpected.

Bring only a few trusted friends and family with you. If you bring too many guests, your opinion might get lost among the opinions of others.

Pictures are everything. Even though you might not know the terminology of the

How do you know when you’ve found the one?

That’s easy! You know when you don’t want to take it off and you can’t help smiling.

I always tell my brides, choosing your wedding gown is not an external decision; it’s an internal one. It isn’t about how you look in a gown; it’s how you feel in it.

top: Rows of gowns line Luciano's Westport boutique above: Two styles from Enaura prove why the new designer is already a favorite

STORE: MELANI LUST PHOTOGRAPHY; LUCIANO: JOANNA FISHER; ENAURA: COURTESY OF BRAND

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left: A blooming bar created with Design Collaborative right: An infinty altar makes for a modern moment below: An industrial bohemian setting dreamed up with Daylynn Designs

FLOWERS

Benjamin Newbold

What WINSTON FLOWERS is able to create with greenery and blooms is truly extraordinary. We spoke with Benjamin Newbold, creative director of floral and events, a visionary who shares his insight on palette, proportion and the best petals for each season.

382 Greenwich Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 winstonflowers.com

M A K E A R R A N G E M E N T S T O P L U C K T H E S E FRESH FLORAL IDEAS

What floral trends are you seeing right now?

For the past several years, muted tones have served as the color palette of choice at weddings—think blush tones or classic whites and greens— but this year we’ve seen couples go big with color. People want to be different and want their weddings to express who they are as a couple, so they are opting for bright, bold colors that make a dramatic impact.

Another popular trend is heavy use of greenery and candlelight as opposed to an emphasis on florals.

Traditionally, leafy greenery and foliage have taken a backseat to flowers, but we’re seeing couples reverse that trend by moving flowers into a supporting role. Centerpieces and décor that put greenery front

and center create an earthy, natural atmosphere that is very desirable right now.

We’ve also seen a move toward pieces that are more designed and structural, versus the very flowy and whimsical looks that were common in the past few years.

Couples want to see their décor push boundaries and defy expectations; it’s more flowers as art as opposed to just a simple centerpiece.

Which flowers or trends are always in style?

Seasonal classics will never go out of style.

In winter, anemones are at their peak and make a statement as part of your wedding décor. We love peonies in spring, garden roses in summer, and dahlias in the fall. You can’t ever go wrong with flowers that are blooming naturally during the season, since choosing those ensures that your blooms will be as fresh and lush as possible.

What advice would you give to a couple that doesn’t know where to start with flowers?

Start with the season.

When you consider season first, you’ll be working with flowers at the peak of their beauty. For example, peonies have a brief season and make a stunning addition to wedding décor. When they are at their peak, why not use them?

Then, consider your favorite color. Your wedding should be a reflection of who you are as a person and as a couple, so be sure to choose a palette that you love—even if it’s out of the norm.

The season of your wedding and the color palette will dictate what’s available, and then you can work with an expert to help you choose from the options available.

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: MOLLY ANNE PHOTOGRAPHY; JOHN DOLAN PHOTOGRAPHY; MOVE MOUNTAINS CO.; COURTESY OF WINSTON

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café, walking your dog, riding bikes, or even photographing at the proposal location will give the images more meaning for the next generations than just having a pretty backdrop. I also recommend that the couple get a little dressed up and that the bride wear a dress; we always love “twirl factor” in the compositions. This is also a great time for a makeup trial. Have your makeup done just before the shoot, and then make sure to plan a fun night out afterwards.

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CAPTURING THE MOMENTS Y O U ’ L L C H E R I S H F O R E V E R

What advice would you give to a couple ahead of an engagement session shoot?

“Engagement session” is a misleading term, I prefer “lifestyle couples session.”

These images will reflect this time in your lives and have

an authenticity to them that will bring you, your children and grandchildren right back to when you were a young, fun and carefree couple in the early days of your love. The session gives you a chance to experience how I work and direct and helps

you feel comfortable in front of the camera, so that your guard can be down on the wedding day. I always recommend that the couple chooses a location and situation that has meaning, something as simple as cooking together, going to your favorite

What are some of your favorite locations to shoot couples in Fairfield County?

There are so many fantastic locations, but I think that taking advantage of the shoreline is my favorite. The pastel colors in the sky as the sun sets are so soft and beautiful. I like to add a bit of light to my couple so that they are nicely exposed within the setting of the soft sky and the sea. W

Melani Lust

Melani Lust has photographed over 250 weddings since 2007. Although she shoots all over the world, the locations near her Westport home are some of her favorites.

Wherever you’re celebrating, she’s here to help you get camera ready. melanilustphotography.com

top: A couple's sparkling exit from Westport's Birchwood Country Club above left: Newlyweds at Greenwich Country Club above right: A candid moment from a wedding in Madison westportmag.com

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LUST: KRISTEN JENSEN; ALL OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS BY MEANI LUST PHTOGRAPHY

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PHOTOGRAPHY: JAKE BY JANUARY STEWART; CAROLINE BY PAM ZAREMBA; ALL OTHERS, CONTRIBUTED

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igh school is not what we expected this year—change and stress continues. Yet it is an important part of life, and these local teens are using their creativity, talent and determination to move forward, whether classes are held online or in person. Here, we take a moment to celebrate the unstoppable momentum of these extraordinary teens from area private and public schools. From National Merit Finalists and a 4.73 GPA to a HOBY State Leadership Seminar Student Ambassador and a President of the National Honor Society, they are raising a voice for diversity, establishing clubs, taking leadership positions, helping the most vulnerable in our communities— even learning quantum physics and Ancient Greek—while also taking center stage or center field. They also selflessly commit to volunteer work to help others. Through their eyes, the future is beautifully boundless. by diane sembrot SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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No.1 ZACHARY AMENDOLA St. Luke’s School

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ven back as a ninth grader, Zach Amendola was tackling computer programming, computer science and the foundations of engineering at St. Luke’s.

Now a senior, this Wilton resident has earned top marks throughout school.

Even in his “time off ” from rigorous academics, he’s solving problems and strategizing ways to constantly do better: He’s president of the school’s Chess Club (he was chess champ and a semifinalist), is a member of the Math Team and was an architect for the Eye of the Storm Club website. He calmly tackles problems. He even serves as a facilitator for Community Goals for Learning, which takes on complex topics like racism. He is now turning his bright mind to St. Luke’s Senior Scholars year-long, self-study program. It seems, there is always a solution if one puts in the work, asks deep questions, takes risks and has a talent for making sense of any challenging issue. Just ask Zach.

Do you have a favorite subject?

“My favorite subject is math, and it has been for as long as I can remember. Even in elementary school, I would get excited whenever we did “Mad Minutes”— worksheets where you had a minute to answer as many of the sixty problems on the page as you could. Now, as I’m traversing my way through more complicated topics in calculus, I still find that same excitement when I finally find an answer to a seemingly impossible problem or when I see an application of a previously confusing theorem.”

How would you describe yourself?

“Two adjectives that I would use to describe myself are helpful and energetic. Whether someone needs assistance with a small

homework assignment or needs a fresh set of eyes to look over an essay, I am always willing to lend a helping hand. I am also a very energetic person. Whether I’m in class, on the tennis court or just hanging out with my friends, I am always excited to tackle a new day with verve and enthusiasm. I think my teachers would say that I am engaged in class and an overall good classroom presence. I always come into the school day excited to learn. I like to participate in discussions, learn new material and spend the time getting to know my classmates and teachers better.”

What did you like about St. Luke’s? “One of my favorite things about my school is the community. The faculty and students have been able to foster

a community that is welcoming, accepting and supportive. The community is one I’m proud to be a part of, and the school is a place that I’m excited to go to every day.”

What are your college plans?

“The main thing that I am looking for in college is to find my passion.

I am excited to try different classes that I haven’t yet been able to take in high school and, hopefully, find something that I am passionate about and can build a career around.”

Given everything that’s going on right now, what role can teens take now? “I think that during these unprecedented times, one of the most important things for teens to do is to follow the national and state guidelines on how to keep themselves and others safe. This includes wearing a mask, socially distancing and washing your hands, among other things. Even though we are not at the highest risk of getting seriously ill from coronavirus, our actions can still help to minimize the spread of the virus.”

QUICK TAKES Tip for succeeding in high school: “Work hard. It doesn’t have to come at the expense of other things, like extracurriculars or social events, but putting in the extra time to review material for a test or proofreading a paper one more time goes a long way towards success.”

Favorite extracurricular: “Tennis. I loved the sport for a long time, so when I started high school, I decided to go all in. I did multiple clinics a week, took private lessons and played in tournaments most weekends. I have loved playing tennis, and I have made great friends through all the time I have spent on the court.”

Currently binge watching: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but my all-time favorite show is The Office.”

Favorite local place: “Dairy Queen.”

No.2

QUICK TAKES Tip for succeeding in high school “Nothing is ever more important than sleep.”

CAROLINE MCCALL

My advice to high school freshmen: “None of us know what we’re doing any more than you do. Don’t take it for granted because high school truly does fly by. Oh, and please don’t stand in the middle of the hallway.”

Greens Farms Academy

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAM ZAREMBA

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reens Farms Academy senior Caroline McCall is a quick study. She has earned Head of School Distinction and High Honors for all six semesters and was inducted into the Cum Laude Society.

She’s also fast on her feet— this Westport teen is a three-time MVP, two-time All New England, three-time All FAA and on the New England Championship Team for Varsity Cross Country (and captain)— as well as captain of Varsity Basketball and Varsity Track and Field (for which she won the Coach’s Award). She even picks up languages in a snap: she is in the National French Honor Society, won the French Language Award and is in her school’s French Club.

Her involvement in Model UN and taking electives like “Comparative Politics” through Global Online Academy and courses such as “Prisons and the Criminal Law” illustrate why she was elected by her peers to serve as a Student Representative on the Judicial Council, which adjudicates the most serious disciplinary cases.

Her career in law and public policy is fast-approaching.

My motto “Control the controllable.”

Dream destination “Heron Island, Australia.”

Favorite local place: “Devils Glen Park in Weston.”

Do you have a favorite class?

“I have always enjoyed my English classes, but I definitely turned a corner in Mr. Coll’s sophomore English class. English teachers notoriously say, “Show don’t tell,” and while I always thought I understood the concept, I could never quite execute. Mr. Coll believed that I was capable of manifesting this technique in my writing and through his guidance and mentorship I saw so much progress in my work over the course of the year.”

prior year, we had only three girls on the start line, so we weren’t even expecting to place. Plus, it snowed during the race, which made it even more epic.”

Do you have a mentor?

“My mentor and role model is my cross country coach, Chris Barrett.

I’ve learned so much about determination, perseverance and mental fortitude from him. He’s one of the most genuine, kindhearted people I have ever met.

He’s made me a better runner and a better person, and I owe so many of my successes to his support.”

What is one of your successes at Greens Farms Academy?

“The sweetest moment was winning the New England Cross Country Team Championship sophomore season, because it was such an unexpected victory. The

Looking into the future, where do you see yourself in a decade?

“I plan on going to law school, so in ten years I’ll be only a couple of years out of law school, probably

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working as a public defender. I got the chance to study ‘Prisons and Criminal Law’ during the spring semester of my junior year and I learned about the lack of public defenders in the U.S.—a problem that I hope to help remedy. The average public defender is juggling up to 200 cases simultaneously, making it impossible for them to fulfil their ethical and professional responsibility to their clients.”

Looking at the country now, what would you tell other teens?

“Anyone who is eighteen, or will be

by Election Day, should register to vote; it’s so important for young people to be civically engaged! We can all make positive changes in our communities just by changing our own behavior and leading by example. Young people have the power to profoundly affect the culture. Educating ourselves and one another and engaging in productive, respectful debates is a great way to affect positive change.”

No.3

QUICK TAKES If could have dinner with anyone: “Maya Angelou.”

NATASHA JOHNSON

My motto: “Periodt.”

Superpower I’d love: “Manifest food on command.”

Staples High School

This I know: “You gain a special sense of confidence when you learn to love yourself even if you don’t always see yourself portrayed in the media and around you.”

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aring for others and being selfconfident isn’t an either/or thing for Natasha Johnson. They go hand in hand. When her big heart and sharp mind align, there’s nothing she won’t take on.

She’s committed to getting the most out her academics, especially when applied to her heritage and culture. In tenth grade she started a club to add more diverse books to the English curriculum and used her leadership to transform the club into a safe place to discuss and learn about racial diversity.

She shares her knack for just getting things done beyond Staples by mentoring a group of middle school girls from Bridgeport. Natasha does this volunteer work while also managing her many responsibilities and very challenging course load—she’s President of The National Honor Society and President of Rho Kappa (Social Studies Honors Program). If that weren’t enough (and it is), she was also on the cross country and tennis teams. She works hard and has a vision of her responsibility to make a difference—she just makes it look easy.

One success you cherish?

“I, along with students from my grade and above, planted the seedlings of a prominent black community and presence at Staples that we hope will thrive. Growing up, I was one of a handful of black students and it was rare that we would be in the same class—the longing for that community was so acute, I remember asking my mother for a black friend in first grade. I had low self-esteem and always felt out of place. That changed in ninth grade when after racist remarks were made to me, I began to write how it made me feel. My stream of consciousness turned into a powerful open letter, which won the 2016 PTA Reflections contest.

From that moment on, I realized maybe I didn’t have the voice to speak up, but I did have words and passion, so I began to center my reading and writing around black culture. Sophomore year, my friend Sahiba Dhindsa and I focused a research paper around educational inequality and the lack of a diverse curriculum. After interviewing Lauren Francese, the head of the Social Studies Department for

information, I proposed the idea of a club, which Sahiba and I ran our junior and senior years. Now it’s Team Westport at Staples and it’s still in its beginning, but what I love about it is the vision.”

Why pick The Wharton School?

“I am interested in social entrepreneurship, and they have organizations that get involved with venture capitalism, advising and research to help local and global businesses in philanthropic endeavours. They pitch products and ideas to help with things such as sustainability and education.

Another reason I chose Wharton over Yale is because my dream is to start my own company, and I hope to learn about the ins and outs of starting a business through their courses and network. I also hope to meet other students who could help and inspire me.”

Where are you in ten years?

“I see myself as the owner of Spice Dolls, a Chicago-based, black-owned business. Our motto: Every child deserves to see their reflection/that’s you in the mirror.

It’s still under construction. I got

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the name from my childhood nickname/alter ego, Tash Spice; she’s a recent Wharton grad, uber woke and fashionable in a Gen Z type of way. Innovative, smart and, most important, committed to promoting diversity and inclusion.

Spice Dolls feature a wide variety of Dolls of all different ethnicities and backgrounds with a strong online platform to more effectively bring each Doll to life. We want to educate children on different cultures that they may or may not have access to where they live. On a more personal level, I want to ensure that children are able to see someone that looks like them in the media and in culture because I did not have that growing up.”

How did it affect you?

“Being different often progressed into feeling like an imposter. My family moved six times, so I was always the new kid. I grew up in the suburbs, so I was always the black kid. When we moved to Japan, we were foreigners. I never fit comfortably into the archetype of the places, which made me struggle with my identity and sense of belonging. The moments that really brought me down were when I tried to blend in, but couldn’t. As I grew up, and became more comfortable in my skin, I learned that your home and identity does not have to be defined by a singular place. I realized some people are meant to travel the world and they make up themselves from all the places they visit. I began to see myself as less of a foreigner and more of an explorer, and I realized I had a talent for navigating new situations.”

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No.4

MARK BALLESTEROS Fairfield Prep

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hen Mark Ballesteros graduated Fairfield Prep last spring, he was a four-year Summa Cum Laude honor student who had taken the hardest course load available. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and a peer tutor. He also received the Yale Book Award and is a National Merit Finalist.

Of the 1.5 million entrants across the country, he was first ranked among the top 16,000 semifinalists and then one of 15,000 finalists.

When he wasn’t acing tests and studying, what was he doing all four years? Model UN (Secretary General), Debate Club (co-president), Plato Club (co-founder), Astronomy Club and Historians Club. Despite all of that, he still found time to serve on the board of the Toquet Hall Youth Center in Westport and volunteer at Wakeman Boys & Girls Club in Southport. This fall, this super-star is attending University of Notre Dame.

Do you have a favorite subject in high school? “My favorite subject is history. I believe that we can best understand our society by looking at its past and by comparing it to other societies. I also love learning about past wars and revolutions. For example, I recently read a biography of Julius Caesar and enjoyed hearing about his military victories in Gaul and against the Senate, and also about his brilliant political maneuvering.”

including one on warfare that I still have today.”

Then you went to Fairfield Prep.

What did you like about it?

“I loved the community at Fairfield Prep. Everyone was friendly and supportive. The environment was not competitive or cliquey at all. I also enjoyed the religious focus and emphasis on community service, which added character and a deeper meaning to the school. The big emphasis on service was a great experience for me. For example, one summer I spent a week in Appalachia with other students doing work in a small rural town. I loved helping out the community and working with the other student volunteers.

I hope to have similar experiences in college.”

Thinking back over the years, what challenge are you glad you overcame?

“In middle school and early high school, I had a hard time with

Do you recall when you first realized that you had such a strong interest in history?

“I’ve loved history since elementary school. I don’t remember exactly when I realized that I liked it, but military history has a natural appeal to me. One of the earliest examples I can think of was in fifth grade, when, after learning about several ancient civilizations, we had to design one of our own. I worked hard on the project, creating several posters to present to the class about it,

public speaking. My normally clear thoughts became confused, so I would stutter and stop making sense. It was simply more difficult to think while simultaneously articulating those thoughts.

However, I wanted to be able to present my ideas in a clear and persuasive manner. I joined Debate Club and Model UN at my school so that I could practice public speaking regularly. After many months of meetings, I became comfortable with it and, eventually, became president of Model UN and co-president of Debate Club.”

What do you think defines your generation? “Our society is facing several unusual stresses. For example, a looming national debt, various threats to the natural environment and cultural and political schism. This has only been exacerbated by the virus and the lockdown. In addition, our society is more interconnected than ever, which has many advantages, but also means that the collapse of one part of the system can more easily lead to the collapse of others. Our generation will be defined by how we approach these challenges and the society we create after we have faced them.”

QUICK TAKES Tip for succeeding in high school: “Keep your chin up.

If you maintain your selfconfidence, or even act like you’re confident, everything will come more easily.”

Favorite extracurricular: “Model UN. I learned to clearly and persuasively express my ideas and to work with others to bring them about.”

If could have dinner with anyone: “Jesus Christ.”

Superpower pick: “Super-speed.”

Dream destination: “Antarctica. No other place is as serene as Antarctica.”

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“ We wondered, ‘What could we do to help Above & Beyond the community?’ We wanted to spread kindness in these unkind times.”

- Arjan Kochar, 6th Grade

If you wonder whether young people can really be leaders, look no further than St. Luke’s Middle School students Arjan ‘26 and Nihaal ‘24 Kochar. The brothers wanted to alleviate some of the suffering caused by the Coronavirus crisis. They launched Zouchers.com—a website supporting small, family-run businesses. Watch the Kochars’ interview with Head of School Mark Davis at www.stlukesct.org/slsheroes

On campus and online...

An Exceptional Education.

Join a Welcome Webinar www.stlukesct.org/visit St. Luke’s is a secular (non-religious), college preparatory day school for grades 5-12 and a Best Private High School in CT - niche.com 203.801.4833 | 377 North Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT 06840

No.5 ISAAC MOSKOWITZ

Greens Farms Academy

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saac Moskowitz is in it to win it. He is co-founder and co-head, with Charles Kolin, of the Greens Farms Academy Sports Programing Network. This student-run club broadcasts Varsity Basketball games—learning about cameras, microphones, headsets, etc., and prepping player names, stats, records, etc.—provides analysis over live-streamed programs.

They even produced the GESPYs (GFA Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly), recapping best plays of the year. He also hit the field as the baseball manager at his school and the water as a sailor through Longshore Sailing Club. With one eye on the game, he never loses sight of his academics. He is particularly keen on the big view (make that, really big view, as in astrophysics) as well as close up (particle physics). His grades are also stellar, as he’s earned both Head of School Distinction and High Honors three times. Isaac is now in his senior year and destined for a other-worldly success in his future career in astrophysics.

What is it about physics that intrigues you?

“I’m fascinated by it because it describes how everything behaves and can accurately predict how something is going to behave.

I’m also fascinated by how the extremes of our universe—the quantum world and the classical universe—interact to create the universe around us and the laws of physics that govern how we interact with it. Studying physics can tell us the creation of everything around us, how it all behaves, and what will happen to it eons down the road, all through neat and tidy mathematical principles.”

You were in the Yale Summer Program for Astrophysics. What did you do?

“It’s a six-week research program for rising high school seniors interested in astronomy, physics, mathematics and computer science. I am currently cataloging

the brightness of a distant supernova so I can make a ‘light curve,’ which measures the supernova’s brightness over time.

This data gives astronomers a window into the evolution of the supernova and the events leading up to it. I am also taking measurements of a star cluster to understand the correlation between the color and brightness of different stars in the star cluster. I am loving every minute of this work. Even when I am doing tasks that are tedious or aren’t the most exciting aspect of astronomy, I am thrilled by it. I like the saying, ‘If you love what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life.’ I realized this summer that astrophysics is the work I love to do.”

Name one of your biggest accomplishments?

“Winning the Class Prize in my sophomore year. It’s given to the ninth, tenth and eleventh grader

for the greatest interest and most consistent effort in academic studies at GFA. This prize was the culmination of the hard work I had done in all of my subjects that year. However, it wasn’t simply regarding academic performance.

The award also signified that I was a leader and major contributor in the educational environment.

This is what makes me the most proud—my teachers voted for me because of my contributions to the learning environment through my participation and willingness to help people.”

How do you describe yourself?

“I am a hard worker, and I am passionate about my studies. I’m self-motivated, and I’ll work hard to finish an assignment or go the extra mile on a project to enhance the scope of my knowledge and understanding of it. I am becoming a well-rounded person. I’ve struck a balance between my schoolwork, social, and family life that allows me to spend a sufficient amount of time with each. Lastly, I believe in lifelong learning. In order to fully live in this world, you have to continuously be trying to understand it and to learn from it.”

QUICK TAKES Tip for succeeding in high school: “Figure out what you are passionate about in every subject. Getting the most out of each class elevates your work in your favorite field and you can find creative ways to solve problems in one discipline by using skills learned in another.”

Favorite extracurricular: “Definitely GSPN—Greens Farms Academy Sports Programming Network. It’s GFA’s sports channel, which I co-founded with my friend Charles and currently co-run.

I’ve had a blast calling playoff games, analyzing the best course of action during the final minutes in a tight game, and going berserk during game-winning buzzerbeaters.”

If I could have dinner with anyone: “Neil DeGrasse Tyson.”

Dream destination: “Vancouver.”

“Now more than ever, it is crucial for our FCDS students to feel connected to a supportive and safe community.

Whether we are in the classroom or learning from home, we continue to prioritize strong relationships which empower our boys to be successful.�

Jaime Balocca Fourth Grade Teacher

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203.259.2723

No.6

QUICK TAKES Advice to high school freshman “I remember stressing out as a freshman because I thought I needed to know exactly what I wanted to do after college and to have everything all planned out, but honestly I think that high school is a time when you’re just beginning to discover what you’re interested in, so as long as you’re putting the effort into exploring different subjects and areas, I think you’ll be more than fine.”

SOPHIA RAMIREZ

Wilton High School

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ow a senior at Wilton High School, Sophia Ramirez has the Midas touch. She has received the Congressional Award Gold Medal (Congress’s highest honor for youth); was one of the only two chosen to represent her school as a 2019 HOBY State Leadership Seminar Student Ambassador; and earned a Scholastic Awards Gold Medal, Silver Medal and a National Latin Exam Gold Medal. She’s also the president of her school’s Spanish Honor Society chapter and co-captain of Debate Club. Plus, she’s Vice President of Mock Trial Club and President of Philosophy Club, for which she leads weekly discussions on thought experiments and philosophies. One of her biggest achievements so far is founding the nonprofit SynYouth, a youth-led 501c3 that provides weekly online English classes to kids in Latin America, taught one-on-one by Englishspeaking high school and college students. SynYouth now has over 400 tutors and students worldwide.

If could have dinner with anyone, it’d be: “Charles Dickens, who was way cooler than we give him credit for.”

Superpower I’d love: “Flying: not the most practical superpower, but pretty darn awesome.”

If I could do one thing better, it would be: “Bending notes on the harmonica.”

Much farther forward, where do you think you’ll be in 2030?

“2030? That’s not a real year! To quote comedian John Mulaney, by 2030, I’ll be drinking moon juice with President Jonathan Taylor Thomas.”

Have you had to face a significant challenge?

“I’m fortunate enough to need to scrape the bottom of the barrel for an answer to this question.

I suppose that moving from England to America was a very difficult transition for me; however, my family was so supportive of me, and, also, I started getting into writing to help me reflect on and articulate how I was feeling during that time, which definitely led to creative writing being as important as it is to me today.”

What is your favorite subject to study in school?

“I love English! The specific literature we study changes year to year, of course, but it’s all fundamentally about the discussion of ideas and exploration of unique points of view, which really interests me.”

And favorite extracurricular?

“Debate. It’s helped me become a more confident public speaker, as well as given me opportunities to engage with and understand opposing perspectives on a given topic, which I think is important in the context of real-world discourse.

Our club meetings also make the time for silly resolutions to mess around with, which helps prevent the activity from becoming too stressful.”

Looking forward, what do you hope to achieve when you go to college?

“I’m excited about meeting and learning from people from completely different backgrounds and life experiences than my own.”

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What role can teens take now?

“If you’re passionate about a cause, I don’t think being too young should hold you back from contributing. I’m sure there’s some with the opinion that teens lack the maturity and experience needed to create meaningful change in their communities, but I’ve found that most people nowadays are more than willing to acknowledge and support you in whatever role you decide to take.

I guess more specifically, there are several websites—like allforgood .org and volunteermatch.org— where you can find volunteer opportunities in causes that interest you. They even give you the option to look at online opportunities only, which is particularly useful in 2020.”

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O

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JAKE MCGILLIONMOORE

Staples High School

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t Staples High School Jake McGillionMoore took eleven AP classes. An AP Scholar with Distinction, he graduated in the top ten percent of his class.

He would have upped this already rigorous courseload, but he needed time for competitive fencing. When not in school, he’s competing on the international circuit.

During his junior year, he missed thirty school days and had to coordinate with his teachers to study while across the country and abroad. Showing remarkable discipline, he kept up with his courses by supplementing class notes with independent study. With a mind that’s a sponge for knowledge and a stubborn tenacity to hit every goal, he is on his way to becoming a neurosurgeon.

A first-generation IrishAmerican, he represented Ireland in fencing championships. He now competes on the Division 1 team at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Whatever follows, he’s sure to hit his mark.

How did you balance academics and the competitions?

“Balancing competitive fencing with my school and extracurricular activities was the biggest challenge. A big part of competing

for Ireland is competing on the European circuit. I was traveling domestically and internationally every other weekend, so I had to get good at working schoolwork and assignments around the competition schedule.”

What did you like to study?

“Chemistry was my favorite because it brought everything together, and the teacher, Mr. Jones, spent a lot of time telling stories that really made a connection to applications in the real world.”

When did know you enjoyed it?

“In the summer before freshman year, I did an intro to neuroscience course at Johns Hopkins University and one of the areas we studied was on neurons, synapses and the almost limitless

pathways they can form in the nervous system. Understanding the fundamental chemistry that underpins how a human functions was fascinating and it gave me valuable context that helped through the health sciences in high school. This passion was reinforced before junior year when I did an internship at the Eastern Maine Medical Center, helping to test a new methodology for determining whether Alzheimer’s patients were still fit to drive.

Seeing the effects of dementia first-hand and relating it back to my understanding of how the brain functions gave me a sample of what a career in the neurological field would be like.”

What does winning the Congressional Gold Award mean to you?

“I could write pages on what I did for this: 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of personal development and 200 hours of personal fitness as well as a two-day (kayaking and river camping on the Connecticut River), three-day (hike thirty-plus miles on the Appalachian Trail) and five-day (food, music and architecture in Vienna, Austria) exploration. The two years culminated with a presentation of my medal by Senator Chris Murphy in the U.S. Capitol.”

What’s the ten-year plan?

“I hope to continue fencing for Ireland at the Senior level and maybe take a shot at qualifying for the Olympics in 2024 and beyond.”

QUICK TAKES Currently binge-watching: “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

Superpower pick: “To slow down time.”

Favorite local place: “Sakura—the lunch special is student-friendly and sets the bar high for local hibachi. For fun, Toquet Hall Teen Center—there’s a huge variety of activity nights and the Oreo milkshakes are worth the trip on their own.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANUARY STEWART

No.7

What’s one of your biggest successes?

“Fencing competitively during high school and being a two-time State High School fencing champion, four-time All-American and All-Academic 1st Team as well as being selected to compete on the Irish National Fencing team and represent them at European and World Cadet and Junior Championships for the last three years. At its most intense, I was training almost twenty hours per week, alongside schoolwork and while traveling for fly-away tournaments almost every month.”

No.8

QUICK TAKES Tip for succeeding in high school: “Challenge yourself academically, athletically and creatively. The combination of these three areas creates a balance that allows you to push your limits and form meaningful relationships.”

JILLIAN BELLUCK

Weston High School

Currently watching: “The filmed version Hamilton on Broadway; 13th, a documentary about racial injustice; and the television show The 100.”

W

ith headspinning GPA, Jillian Belluck is an outstanding student at Weston High School.

She won two Mathematics Scholar Awards; is in the National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, and National Music Honor Society; took the Premio de Oro National Spanish Exam; won the Connecticut Secretary of State Award and the Elite International Music Competition. With all that, she still has a year of high school to go. With those academic wins, it’s surprising that she is also a competitive athlete: She is a National Synchronized Skating Champion—a six-time National Gold Medalist with her team, Skyliners, and a U.S. Figure Skating Gold Medalist.

Plus, she is one of only ten skaters in the country to win the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team Award; she donated the prize money to a music organization for which she volunteers. Plus, Jillian plays piano, flute and oboe. The abundance of talent in one person is truly a wonder.

My motto: “Use your light and pour it into the world.”

Favorite way to relax: “Dancing in the pouring rain while I listen to my favorite songs.”

How do you balance skating, music and academics?

“I’ve competed for eleven seasons on a synchronized ice-skating team, and over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to travel both nationally and internationally, and to represent U.S. Figure Skating as part of Team USA. This comes with a lot of honor and excitement, but also some disappointments. This season my team qualified for the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships in Nottingham, England; we traveled there before being sent home due to concerns over travel restrictions and the pandemic. My team was prepared to compete and had even practiced in the competition arena, but we had to withdraw.

With the long practices every weekend and days of school I have to miss for competitions, I’ve had to contact my teachers throughout the school year for missed work and make up tests and assignments when I return.

This year I even called into my chemistry class from France in between skating practices so I

could write down the day’s notes and help with a lab assignment.

Sometimes my other activities conflict with my skating schedule.

Last year I had an orchestra concert in Wilton the day after the skating National Championships in Michigan, and after my team competed and won the gold, I hopped on a plane so I could arrive in time for the dress rehearsal.

These types of conflicts remind me of why I’m so lucky to have supportive coaches and parents.”

What are you glad you did in your studies?

“I am proud that I challenged myself to take more advanced classes in my areas of interest. As an eighth grader I took Algebra 2 at the high school, and with that basis I was able to explore more difficult courses that grew my passion for science and math.

In order to keep up with the demanding workloads, especially as I took multiple high-level math and science classes in the same year, I had to make sure I actively participated in class, reached out to my teachers if I

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needed help, and maintained a high standard when completing each assignment. Through the hard work, I developed a deep understanding of the foundations of math and science that have allowed me to explore more complex areas of study.”

What do you love about math and science?

“Their intersecting applications.

I’m interested in genetics, which combines the intricacies of cellular biology with complex mathematical models. It also allows for creativity, especially when exploring the role that one’s environment has in shaping traits. I also love the endless opportunities in genetic research, and studying it has exposed me to interesting discussions about epigenetics, synthetic biology and the ethics of gene editing. Math and science can be explained in very simple terms, yet there’s no limit to their complexities. My chemistry and calculus classes, in particular, allowed me to bring creativity to the STEM field, writing stories using mathematical concepts and guiding my own research project. Math and science can be used to explain every aspect of the world around us, but the more solutions we find, the more questions arise.”

No.9

QUICK TAKES Advice to high school freshmen: “Get involved in things you are passionate about. Find things that make you happy, both inside and outside of the classroom.”

CHRISTINE JANSEN King School

Currently binge watching” Schitt’s Creek If could have dinner with anyone: “Michelle Obama.”

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ilton resident Christine Jansen is a bright star at King School. Now a senior, she grew up loving to sing and perform in musical theater from the age of seven.

Since arriving at King as a freshman, she has participated in six productions. In 2019, she travelled with King to Edinburgh, Scotland, to participate in the Fringe Festival, which was one of the highlights of her musical theater experiences. She is also a co-leader of the Drama Club at school and interned for Wilton Children’s Theater and Wiremill Academy. When you don’t find her at center stage or backstage, she’s on the run—she’s a four-year athlete on the Varsity Cross Country team (captain for three years).

Christine represented King at the New England Cross Country Championships freshman through junior years and in 2019 received the King award of Most Valuable Runner, Varsity Cross Country. That year she placed first female runner in every race of the season. Now she’s racing toward college, possibly to study communication and psychology. Certainly, she will shine.

Superpower pick: “Reading minds.”

Do you have a favorite subject?

“I am working towards a certificate of Distinction in Leadership at King. I have learned so much from the leadership classes that I have taken. They have given me a lot of insight about myself as a leader and how to improve my skills. At the end of the year, each student gave a leadership presentation. I chose to focus on lessons in leadership from theater. I took away many skills from this class that help me to succeed on the stage.”

have inspired me to want to study psychology in college.”

What was a highlight of high school years?

“I had the pleasure of playing Sophie in Mamma Mia! This was one of the most fun shows I have ever done, and it was also a big growth opportunity for me. I put in a lot of hard work so that I could give my best performance. I met some of my best friends while doing this show, and so I think it was a success in both my singing career and friendships.”

When did you start them?

“I began taking leadership classes during sophomore year and I knew then that I wanted to get a Distinction in Leadership. I wanted to learn more about how to be an effective leader because I know this is a very important life skill to learn. I have become a better leader because of the class, and I know I will use these skills for the rest of my life. I learned that there is not just one definition of a leader, and there are many aspects to becoming a successful leader. These classes

How do you describe yourself and what would your teachers say about you?

“I would describe myself as hardworking, motivated and dedicated. I am a caring person and a good friend. My teachers would describe me as a student who perseveres and knows how to challenge herself. They would say I am hardworking, both inside and outside of the classroom.

They would also say I am wellorganized, curious and engaged.”

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Who’s your mentor?

“My voice and acting instructor Mary Jo Duffy. I have known her for twelve years, and she not only has taught me how to prepare for auditions, but also has been a life coach for me. From Mary Jo, I have learned how to face challenges and to always do my best. I see her passion and love for what she does and I aspire to find a career someday where I feel the same way.”

What did you like about King?

“I came to King freshman year and at first I was nervous because I did not know anyone. One of my first memories was when I walked in and was lost. I remember looking very confused and someone asked me if I needed help. I said I did, and they showed me to my first class. This act of kindness stuck with me and shows that King has a very helpful and accepting environment. It also has very strong academic programs and I love that it permits a good balance of sports and theater, as you do not have to participate in just one extracurricular activity. Also, being the captain of the cross country team for three years and being involved in the theater program have been some of my favorite memories. I love the school spirit, and one of my favorite times is in the fall during Homecoming Weekend. It’s a time for all the teams to support one another and to celebrate our community.”

No.10 OLIVER SHARPE

Wilton High School

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liver Sharpe hasn’t tried a humanities class he didn’t like.

As a freshman he took a class that blended English and history to address perspectives and bias in texts. As a sophomore, he signed up for Select World Literature and AP European History. As a junior, he selected AP U.S. History and AP English as well as Spanish, Latin and (as an independent study) Ancient Greek—the maximum amount available at the high school—so he could read ancient texts. And while he can run circles around the competition on the soccer field, Oliver also volunteers his time to service clubs: Key Club, Best Buddies, Peervention, Buon Amico, and LET’S Club. There are many ways to live a life—and Oliver Sharpe is enriching his own by developing a rich understanding of the evolution of humanity and the complexities of how we express our understanding of life, civilization and humanity and how we communicate with one another. In short, he’s making the world a better place.

You’ve moved quite a bit. What has that been like for you?

“I think having moved around so many times at a young age, from Virginia to England to Scotland to Massachusetts to Wilton, has given me a unique perspective on how to treat people properly, and the importance of just being kind to those around you. I’ve been the new kid seven times, and have been in every type of social circle at one point or another it seems, and the one thing that transcends every different place, culture and type of person is the ability to be kind even when you do not have to be. Moving around so much as a kid showed me the importance of that, and I would like to think that I try to apply that to every part of my life.”

school; they not only taught me the finer aspects of English, but also inspired me to make myself a better writer as a tool to express myself as well as my views and ideas. My sophomore year English teacher, Dr. Harvey, is most responsible for my relatively new passion for English, by teaching me how rewarding it is to use the written word to express ideas that I could never fully articulate by talking. I’ve been able to find my own little niche of selfexpression that, for me, goes far beyond the meaningfulness of solving equations or finding the gravitational force of a rolling apple. Writing has given me the opportunity to analyze myself and the world around me because it makes you think from that unique, removed perspective only a writer can attain. Writing tends to give shelter against the fast pace of everyday life and gives the opportunity to see that the world really isn’t moving that fast, but rather that you just aren’t looking

Do you have a favorite subject?

“I would say English is my favorite subject, and for a lot of reasons.

For one, I have been fortunate enough to have fantastic English teachers all throughout high

around enough along the way.”

What challenge have you faced?

“My aunt Tracy, my mom’s sister, was in a care home for all of my life after a brain procedure, and I would go with my mom close to every weekend to visit her. At first I would go only because I knew it made it easier for my mom, as my aunt was largely nonverbal and the silence between questions was often hard, but as I went more, my mom instilled in me that we went, not for each other, but for her, because it made her happy in an otherwise unhappy situation.

As we continued to go, we realized that we were not even going just for her, but everyone around her who just needed someone to be kind and lively. From my mom I learned that helping others over being selfish can change lives, and from my aunt I learned how strong people with disabilities or issues in general can be as long as they are supported.”

Do you have a role model?

“My number one role model would be my dad. He was diagnosed with MS when I was little, and I have been fortunate enough to grow up with him as my father, and as one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Everyday is that much harder for him, but he constantly pushes through. Most heroes don’t have the easiest lives, or do what is easy, just like my dad.”

How did this affect you?

“I signed up for every volunteer club and every club that helps others. I also have made the effort to do more than just be there, but to form relationships and bonds and genuinely improve the lives that I have the power to affect.”

QUICK TAKES Long-term goal: “College for business, preferably in the South.”

Tip for succeeding in high school: “Develop good relationships with your teachers.”

My motto: “You never regret hard work.”

Dream destination: “Australia.”

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by timothy dumas

THE MAY 2019 DISAPPEARANCE OF NEW CANAAN MOM JENNIFER DULOS PAINTS A BROAD PICTURE OF WHAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE—THE MOST HIGHLY REPORTED VIOLENT CRIME IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY—LOOKS LIKE RIGHT HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY westportmag.com

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#JUSTICEFORJENNIFER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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n the fall of 2011 Jennifer Farber Dulos, a 43-year-old housewife with a masters degree in writing, started a blog about her life. We live in Connecticut, which is where I always wanted to live growing up. I am living my own personal dream for myself. Three boys, two girls, a loving husband whom I adore. It’s all here, right now.

For 20 months Jennifer chronicled her perfect-seeming family: Fotis, her Greek husband, bright and athletic, the owner of a luxury home building business, and the beautiful children they’d had in quick succession: twin boys in 2006, a twin boy and girl in 2008, and another girl in 2010. Was there a worm

in the apple? Not that she mentions; just the mundane dissatisfactions of suburban living. My to-do list grew beyond anything—you should see it now, like some endless sock that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting. Between the chauffeuring and the meal-making and the interminable laundry, Jennifer laments that she has little time to enjoy her children. Or her husband. As the family moves to a brick mansion that Fotis built at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, she writes, I do wish for one moment though, in this new house, with Fotis—alone. After the kids have gone to bed, to pop some champagne, even if I don’t drink more than a thimble-full of anything nowadays, to toast to this new structure, to our family, to this fresh and lovely start. To commune with my husband, really.

Jennifer titled her blog, with a hint of premonition, “And Five Makes Seven: A mother of five in Connecticut writes to her children as a way of capturing this moment in time.” In somber retrospect, we see that what Jennifer captured for her children were memories of life when life was good—days of family happiness before she fled the brick mansion for a rented house in New Canaan; before the ugly, drawn-out divorce proceedings; before she went missing and Fotis stood accused of her murder; and before Fotis took his own life, protesting his innocence to the bitter end.

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The story of Jennifer and Fotis also tells a broader story, one largely hidden from view, about the ways and workings of domestic violence in America. While the Dulos case offers an extraordinary view of the problem given its Shakespeare-in-the-suburbs texture, it appears to fit a depressingly classic pattern: that of the marriage gone bad escalating to emotional terrorism and all-out violence.

We pick up Jennifer’s words in 2017, as she beseeches the court for full custody of the children: I am afraid of my husband. I know that filing for divorce, and filing this motion will enrage him. I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way.

Two years later, at age 50, she was gone.

Investigators believe Fotis ambushed Jennifer at her New Canaan home on the morning of May 24, 2019 as she returned from dropping the kids off at New Canaan Country School.

They found the garage floor, as well as the Range Rover parked in the middle bay, smeared and spattered with her blood. They found partial bloody shoe prints. And though there was an attempt to clean up the scene, they found a red smudge on the kitchen sink faucet, containing a mixture of Jennifer’s blood and Fotis’s DNA—a fact all the more troubling because Fotis was not permitted inside the large gabled house at 69 Welles Lane.

An hour after the attack and cleanup, the kids’ nanny, Lauren Almeida, arrived at the house to discover a series of small but ominous clues. Jennifer’s Chevy Suburban was gone, but her handbag was still there, sitting on the floor—strange, because Almeida knew Jennifer had a morning appointment in the city. In the pantry someone had looted the supply of paper towels Almeida had stored there the night before—only two rolls of a twelve-pack remained. What kind of spill required ten rolls of paper towels? When Almeida tried in vain to reach Jennifer, “my stomach sank,” she told police. “In the almost seven years that I have worked for Jennifer I never, ever had a hard time reaching her.” And when she learned Jennifer had failed to show for her children’s orthodontist appointments

that afternoon, “my first thought was that Fotis did something.”

Though Fotis enjoyed the presumption of innocence—legally if not popularly— one wonders how he’d have explained away the mountain of evidence gathered against him. Our brave new world of ubiquitous surveillance played a critical role in tracking his movements on the day of Jennifer’s killing. To begin with Fotis borrowed, without permission, a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck belonging to Pawel Gumienny, the project manager of Fotis’s building company, Fore Group Inc. Cameras at rest stops and on school buses show the red Tacoma making its way to New Canaan on the morning of May 24 and returning to Farmington in the afternoon. In between, various cameras spy the Tacoma parked on Lapham Road by Waveny Park, and a man believed to be Fotis, wearing a dark hoodie, riding a vintage ten-speed bicycle up Weed Street in the direction of Welles Lane.

A home security camera, meanwhile, glimpses Jennifer cruising up Welles at 8:05 a.m., toward her imminent death; the same camera shows her Suburban leaving the house at 10:25, presumably with Fotis at the wheel and Jennifer’s body in the back. (That evening the Suburban was discovered abandoned on Lapham Road, with blood inside, near where the Tacoma was parked that morning.) The Tacoma is next seen as it passes the New Canaan rest stop on its way out of town, the camera catching a filigreed shape in the truck bed: the wheel of a bicycle.

Those who would discount this evidence because Fotis is not definitively sighted in New Canaan must consider the following: That night, yet more surveillance cameras catch Fotis, with his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, tossing garbage bags into receptacles along Albany Avenue in Hartford. When investigators recovered the bags, they found an assortment of items stained with Jennifer’s blood—her Vineyard Vines T-shirt, her bra, a bath towel, a sponge, a mop handle, gloves, paper towels, four zip-ties, and two clear rain ponchos. (State police were unable SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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which itself has that many), plus several more brutal assaults on intimate partners. Even peaceable New Canaan has its pre-Dulos horror stories. In 2010 John Michael Farren, deputy White House counsel in the George W. Bush administration, battered his wife with a flashlight, breaking bones in her cheek and jaw. (He’s serving fifteen years for attempted murder.) Last year in Fairfield, James Taylor killed his ex-wife with a .22 rifle shot to the head. (Like Fotis Dulos, he committed suicide while out on bail.) In 2013, at a mansion on Round Hill Road in Greenwich, Michael DeMaio bludgeoned his wife nearly to death with a baseball bat. (He’s serving eight years.) More diabolical yet is the 2009 case of Adam Dobrzanski, a live-in landscaper on a Greenwich estate who fatally slashed the throat of his 20-year-old daughter in order to spite his wife. Why? She was leaving him.

Murder is only the grimmest metric of our domestic violence problem. Other statistics suggest an epidemic. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, or 10 million people a year. More than 20,000 phone calls are placed to domestic violence hotlines every day. One in 4 women has been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime, and 1 in 10 has been raped.

While there’s a growing awareness that men, too, suffer domestic violence, they are overwhelmingly the perpetrators: 85 percent of offenders are male. Nearly half the women murdered in America are murdered by a current or former intimate partner, and for every such killing, nine more are nearly killed. Victims who endure the subtler forms of domestic abuse— mocking, belittling, intimidation, coercion— may go unrecorded in crime statistics, though these abuses can devastate the spirit. In ways large and small, the most dangerous place for a woman is in the home.

Our fair towns do not inoculate us from domestic violence. In Greenwich, domestic violence crimes are the most frequently reported of all violent crimes, and this pattern

THE BIG PICTURE If Fotis murdered Jennifer as charged, then she must be counted among the 1,200 women (and 300 men) killed annually by an intimate partner in these United States. Such cases are not all that rare in Fairfield County. There are roughly two a year (not counting Bridgeport, westportmag.com

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to retrieve everything Fotis dumped along Albany Avenue. But according to the Hartford Courant, a homeless man found a bloodsoaked pillow and a knife in one trash can, and traded the knife to another homeless man for a $5 piece of crack.)

Norman Pattis, Fotis’s defense attorney, professed to be unconcerned by the evidence.

“If this is all the state’s got, we wonder why it bothered,” he said in January, after Fotis was charged with murder. Troconis and Kent Mawhinney, a lawyer and close friend of Fotis Dulos who lives in South Windsor, were also arrested, on charges of conspiring to commit murder. (Last year, separately, Mawhinney was accused of raping his estranged wife and violating a protective order; those cases are still pending.) Mawhinney’s arrest warrant raises the suspicion, based on cell phone records, that he had something to do with a grave-sized hole discovered at the Windsor Rod & Gun Club in East Granby on May 18, 2019, the week before Jennifer went missing. The hole was concealed with barbecue grates and leaves, and contained two unopened bags of lime. Lime is sometimes used in clandestine burials to reduce the odor of decomposition.

Through the summer of 2019, Fotis peddled the odd notion that Jennifer was still alive somewhere—her body was never found.

Norm Pattis went further, suggesting that she’d framed her husband for murder in the manner of the Gillian Flynn novel Gone Girl. (He also advanced the contradictory theory that she might have committed suicide as an act of revenge.) But Dr. James Gill, Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, noted that without immediate medical help, Jennifer could not have survived her grievous wounds.

holds for New Canaan, Darien, Westport, and indeed all of Fairfield County save the urban centers of Bridgeport and Stamford. But these crimes, ranging from threatening to hitting to rape, are also thought to be the most underreported ones. “We only see the tip of the iceberg here at the PD,” says Sgt. Brent Reeves of the Greenwich Police Department’s Special Victims Section. Even so, GPD works 250 to 300 cases a year. What Reeves calls “the services streams” see much more of the iceberg, because a victim can go to them confidentially, without setting the legal wheels in motion. “Once the judicial process gets rolling, it’s a steamroller, it doesn’t stop,” says Reeves. “I think that’s why people are a little afraid of the system.”

The Greenwich YWCA’s Domestic Abuse Services provided counseling and other services to 833 victims last fiscal year, including 242 who simply walked in the door. The Domestic Violence Crisis Center, or DVCC, which covers Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, New Canaan, Darien, Wilton and Weston, served nearly 5,000 victims during the same period. And the Center for Family Justice, covering Fairfield, Bridgeport, Easton, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull, served nearly 4,000. Together, these three entities fielded roughly 10,000 crisis calls, and their safe houses protected nearly 500 people.

A good chunk of the iceberg is seen neither by police nor by advocates. Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us—a widely praised book published last year—tells us the stigma of intimate partner violence is especially keen among the privileged, who set great store by privacy and tact. “And that means they kind of endure this alone, and their children endure it alone.” That brings to mind a story Brent Reeves told us.

Once, he responded to a “DV” at an opulent backcountry home, but found the abused wife wanted nothing to do with him. Reeves asked why she declined help when her situation was obviously so dangerous. She replied, “Cost of doing business.”

“The trouble is, we don’t talk about

“[THE CHILDREN] ARE PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTED...

WE ARE ALL TERRIFIED TO DISOBEY MY HUSBAND.” —jennifer dulos, in court filings

this,” Rachel Louise Snyder continues. “We talk openly about other social issues— homelessness, mass incarceration, gender inequality.” What surprised Snyder most during her decade of research was the way domestic violence intersected with those other social problems. “Eighty percent of incarcerated men were child victims or witnesses of domestic violence. For women, that number goes up to 92 percent when you include sexual abuse. It’s the leading cause of homelessness for women in this country. Over half the mass shootings in this country are domestic violence homicides, they’re just not framed that way. You want to address social issues en masse in this country?

Start with domestic violence.”

RED FLAGS Jennifer Farber Dulos would have turned 52 in September; she was raised in Brooklyn Heights, the daughter of the late Hilliard Farber, a Wall Street banker and brokerage house founder, and Gloria Ortenberg Farber, a lifelong educator whose family cofounded Liz Claiborne Inc., the apparel giant. Though the Farbers were wealthy, they weren’t flashy: “They were understated, and tended to donate SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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to educational causes,” says Jennifer’s friend Carrie Luft. “They were not ‘social diary’ kinds of people.”

Jennifer had luxuriant brown hair, high cheekbones and a broad, bright smile. “She was an incredibly sensitive and perceptive person,” says Luft, who met Jennifer in 1990, when both were aspiring writers in New York. “She was soft-spoken. She was gracious and kind.

She was the most conscientious, responsible, thoughtful person I’ve ever known.” A Connecticut friend of Jennifer’s who wishes to go unnamed says, “She was quiet. And very sweet. She could be sassy, but kind of a sweet sassy.” This friend says that she too was a victim of domestic violence, and that she and Jennifer recognized their sad kinship without discussing it openly. “Women who are victims of domestic violence are afraid to speak. We have to be careful, because if we speak up, or attempt to protect our children, we will be harmed in some way.”

Fotis Dulos, 52 when he died in January, was born in Istanbul and raised in Athens. A lifelong waterskiing buff, his Facebook page was replete with flattering photos of himself on the water, like a modern-day Narcissus. He was handsome, certainly, with square, neat features, watchful dark eyes, and a smallish, wellproportioned physique. In TV interviews he sat for after Jennifer went missing, he projected a charisma—“charm” is too warm a word—that might incline one to believe him if the evidence weren’t so damning. “We’re all very worried about Jennifer,” Fotis told WNBC’s Sarah Wallace last July. But his manner is so composed, so nearly detached, as to arouse suspicion. And sure enough he makes a narcissistic stumble: “Somebody has to look at who is the worst affected in this situation,” he says.

“And you’re saying that’s you?” asks Wallace.

“Yes,” Fotis replies.

Both Jennifer and Fotis graduated from Brown University—he in 1989, she in 1990— and both went on to earn masters degrees—he in finance from Columbia Business School, she in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. They were friendly

at Brown but traveled in different circles. Fotis married another Brown alumna first, in 2000, but in 2003 he encountered Jennifer by chance at an airport in Aspen. And serendipity cast its spell, she would write. We had a special chemistry together, always… One month after Fotis’s first marriage ended, in July 2004, he wed Jennifer in the living room of her parents’ home. (A large celebration followed at the Metropolitan Club, courtesy of Hilliard Farber.) Jennifer was then nearly 36 and eager to start a family; one can imagine her thinking that Fotis came along not a moment too soon. Jennifer’s friends were cautiously supportive. “It happened very, very fast and that seemed out of character for Jennifer,” says Carrie Luft. “Jennifer’s very measured. She’s not a rash, impulsive person.

She’s pretty much anti-impulsive.”

Fotis was perhaps even more zealous to marry, and here we’re reminded that rushed courtships (in combination with other behaviors) are a classic precursor of domestic abuse. Certainly, there were signs. Fotis had told Jennifer he was divorced when he was merely separated, hinting at the schemer in him. “Jennifer found out he’d lied, and that was concerning, but I think she felt she was too deeply committed,” Luft says. And he had a temper. Even before they married Fotis had a disturbing episode of rage, Jennifer told a friend whom we agreed not to name. “He ranted at her for about ten minutes without allowing her to get a word in edgewise. I can’t even remember what it was, it was so insignificant. Something very small. He just laid into her verbally, cutting down her character: ‘You’re a terrible person!

How dare you do this!’ To me, there was a warning sign in that. That’s usually just the tip of the iceberg, right?”

In Jennifer’s blog Fotis is a sketchy presence, slipping in and out of the scene. He is on the move. And I get his need for speed, movement, business, action. The two do not seem terribly compatible—the contemplative writer and the cocky sportsman. She mentions a video message Fotis has sent from Greece in which he blurts, “I love my Jennie!” Then he makes some bizarre faces and grunts. Not the most romantic, but I suppose it will have to do. At

“[FOTIS] ENJOYED SCARING PEOPLE...

WE MADE A PACT THAT WE WOULD NEVER RIDE IN A CAR WITH THAT MAN AGAIN. ” —carrie luft, friend of jennifer dulos

another point, they go out to see a Quentin Tarantino movie. Ugh. I kept on leaving to get air, sanity, a break from the blood-letting. Fotis was in his own particular brand of heaven. But while spending a night away from the family, she writes, I want to be home, warm with my husband. My sleeping children. The cats and dog. If Jennifer makes one thing clear in her writing, it’s that she cherishes above all else the cozy cocoon of family.

Fotis presents an alternative picture. “She’s up in her writer’s studio. She has absolutely nothing to do with the kids,” he said during the divorce proceedings, a lie calculated to hurt Jennifer, her friends say. After her disappearance Fotis told a Greek magazine, “My marriage has not been so happy since 2010. Jennifer gradually began to take me out of her life and became increasingly distant, a hermit. I tried hard to reach out and understand what was happening, but it never felt better. I’m sorry to say it, but Jennifer was suffering from serious psychological problems…” This too seems dishonest. It was Fotis who was always “on the move,” far from home, and Jennifer who longed for closeness.

What’s more, Fotis traveled not for business, but for pleasure, to waterski in competitions at far-flung resorts. “He was frequently absent,” the longtime friend says. “I think she was often very lonely in the marriage. He’d post photos westportmag.com

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of himself with attractive waterskiing women.

But Jennifer was a mature, understanding person, and did not want to be unreasonably suspicious of a husband who was an athlete.”

Jennifer did suffer from moderate depression—not “serious psychological problems”—for which she took prescribed medication. Fotis’s absenteeism was a likely contributor to her depression; so was his volatile demeanor, careening from flattering to dictatorial, and darkening into sheer, abusive anger. Jennifer would say in court papers that his anger extended to the children, whom he drove hard to excel at waterskiing. One day, she said, Fotis smashed a ski against a rock when a son refused to train. “They are physically and emotionally exhausted and have begged me to do something about it,” Jennifer said. “We are all terrified to disobey my husband.”

Carrie Luft and her husband would come out from New York and socialize with the Duloses, but even in that relaxed setting they noticed red flags. “We experienced early on that Fotis drove like an absolute maniac,” Luft says. “He enjoyed scaring people. We were definitely not hothouse orchids, but we made a pact that we would never ride in a car with that man again. It was terrifying—wrong side of the road, crazy, breakneck speeds on winding Connecticut roads. Just unnecessarily show-offy and disturbing.” Carrie took note of Jennifer’s reaction. “She was in the passenger seat and could only laugh softly. Obviously, she was afraid to say anything to him. It spoke volumes that she couldn’t intervene and was embarrassed about it afterward.”

IT’S OVER Fotis built the Fore Group upon Farber largesse.

Between 2004 and April 2016, he borrowed $10 million from Hilliard Farber, and at Fotis’s death he owed Hillard’s estate $2.5 million, a sum he contested by calling a “gift.” “I think Fotis truly had designs on their money from the get-go,” the longtime friend says. “He behaved like a complete parasite.” Despite his dependence on their fortune, Fotis did not always treat the

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Farbers very well. “I think they ended up being held hostage, in a way. If they denied him money, they were afraid he would take it out on Jennifer.”

To this friend’s knowledge, Fotis never physically assaulted Jennifer while they lived together, and Jennifer said as much in court.

(Though nanny Lauren Almeida recounted an episode in which Fotis chased Jennifer through the house and banged forcefully on a bedroom door as Jennifer braced herself against it; he stopped only when he realized that Almeida and one of the children were present.) But domestic violence isn’t only about bruises and breaks. It’s also about degradation and toxic criticism; about threats; about destructive lies and isolation from family and friends; about harassment, coercion and manipulation; about financial and legal abuse. In other words, the “violence” can be soul-deep as well as bone-deep. “Emotional abuse can be far more effective” as a means of control, Rachel Louise Snyder observes, “because what it does is build a wall inside the victim’s own head. As it says in my book, they are ‘passive hostages.’”

We don’t know when Fotis’s infidelity dawned on Jennifer, but she suspected it long before Michelle Troconis came along. “She was very frightened to confront Fotis about it, and did not know quite what she would do if it were affirmed,” says the longtime friend. “She had five children and very much wanted them to grow up in an intact family.” Her suspicion about Michelle ran deeper than prior hunches, perhaps because the Florida brunette who figured so prominently in Fotis’s social media had resettled in Connecticut. Fotis owned up to the affair in March of 2017. “Then, about a month later, Jennifer got confirmation of a whole bunch of other women,” her friend says.

“People who’d been overseas with Fotis had seen him with other women on his arm.”

For Jennifer the dam had crumbled; the marriage was over. Fotis did not dispute her assessment, but he resisted Jennifer’s pleas to have a peaceable break mediated. Instead he proposed—decreed, really—an arrangement that can only be seen as cruel: Michelle and her daughter would move into 4 Jefferson

Crossing, and Jennifer and the kids would live there, too, on weekends and in the summer, all under one roof. Jennifer’s friend says, “I think Fotis thought, because he believes he’s the only person who matters and other people are either there to serve him or get out of the way, ‘So you’re nothing; you don’t matter; you and the children can just live here and I’ll live here with Michelle, and I’ll just keep taking your family’s money.” (Hill Farber died in January 2017; one doubts Fotis would have proposed so brazen a plan if he were still alive.)

“Essentially,” Jennifer said in court papers, “he expects to continue to exhibit complete control over me and the children.”

During these tumultuous months—the spring of 2017—Jennifer began to sense something chilling in Fotis’s scheming. “She was frightened in terms of what would become of her,” says her longtime friend. “He obviously wanted to replace her. Then she found out that he had acquired a gun—even though they, as parents, had said they never wanted to have a firearm in the house. That frightened her even more.”

Jennifer demanded that Fotis get rid of the gun, but he refused, citing a sudden desire for “protection.” (According to a study published in American Journal of Public Health, the presence of a firearm in an abusive relationship boosts the risk of homicide by 500 percent.)

Events came to a head on May 30, 2017.

Fotis handed Jennifer a custody schedule that would give him the children for almost the entire summer. When she balked, “he became enraged with me, that I wasn’t just agreeing to all this,” she testified in family court. She said Fotis then threatened to kidnap the children and abscond to Greece. “I knew in that moment when he made that threat, I knew I had to get us out of there,” Jennifer told the court. Her departure from 4 Jefferson Crossing, on June 19, 2017, was not a move, but an escape.

An abused woman is in greatest peril around the time she tries to leave. “To understand intimate partner violence, we have to understand that it’s about power and it’s about control,” says Meredith Gold, director of abuse services at the Greenwich YWCA. “Any time SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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PRIVATE MATTERS In the dark ages of domestic violence, as recently as the 1980’s, incidents of abuse were deemed “private matters.” The issue was poorly understood. Domestic violence was also, in its peculiar way, embarrassing, since it signified to many people a personal failure—on the part of the abused person. The late feminist writer Andrea Dworkin said of her first, brutally abusive, marriage, “I had been told by everyone I asked for help the many times I tried to escape— strangers and friends—that he would not be hitting me if I didn’t like it or want it.” (Brent Reeves says victim-blaming is still very much with us. “Friends and family can turn on the victim and start to ask what we in the business call the ‘why’ questions: ‘Why did you have to call the police?’ ‘Why can’t you just leave?’”)

The new century brought to light compelling research, and bit by bit that research filtered down to advocacy groups, counselors, police departments and lawmakers. No research was more important than that of Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell. A professor at The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and a registered nurse herself, Campbell identified abusive behaviors that, in various combinations, put victims at risk of being killed or badly hurt by an intimate partner, and fashioned them into a list of questions called the Danger Assessment tool. Does he control most or all of your daily activities? Is he morbidly jealous? Does he own a gun? Does he spy on you? Has he ever forced you to have sex? Threatened to kill you? Tried to choke you? (There’s a potent literature around strangulation; choking should be seen as the gravest of warning signs.) Some risk signifiers are less obvious: Is the abuser unemployed? Are there children in the household who are not the abuser’s own? Victims then list incidents of abuse on a calendar, the better to gauge escalation. Often they don’t realize the abuser has escalated until they see it plotted on the calendar in black and white. A certified assessor can then determine a victim’s level of danger.

Which is to say, domestic violence homicides are in some measure predictable. “That blew

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a victim is trying to take back a little bit of control, there’s going to be an escalation. Most of the tragedies we hear about, the headlines about women who’ve been killed, the incident happened very soon after she filed for divorce, or moved out of the house, or filed for a restraining order.”

Each case mentioned earlier fits just this pattern. J. Michael Farren’s wife, Mary, had served him divorce papers two days before he strangled her and pummeled her with a metal flashlight.

James Taylor’s ex-wife, Catherine, had moved off his property on a Friday and was murdered that Sunday. Michael DeMaio’s wife, Diane, had served papers two weeks before he came at her with a baseball bat. Adam Dobrzanski’s wife, Renata, fed up with her husband’s emotional abuse, had filed for divorce two weeks before he killed their daughter. “I tell people all the time, if you’re in an abusive relationship to start with, and now you’re in the divorce process— and you’re living in the same household—that’s the hot zone,” Brent Reeves says. “Something is destined to happen.”

It seems that Jennifer intuited exactly this.

She believed Fotis would never allow her to leave on her own terms—at least once, he’d turned away her moving crew—and so she planned her escape carefully, in secret. “She was scared. She was absolutely scared,” Gina Bunch, co-owner of Daley Moving & Storage, told Fox 61 in Hartford. Jennifer instructed the Daley crew to show up in an unmarked truck and in regular clothes in case Fotis returned early from an out-of-town waterskiing competition. She and Lauren Almeida then piled the kids into her Range Rover and set off for Gloria Farber’s place in Manhattan.

The following day, June 20, Jennifer filed for divorce and for an emergency custody order. In court papers, she describes Fotis as “irrational, unsafe, bullying, threatening and controlling”— an emotional abuser’s constellation of bad behaviors. “I am terrified for my family’s safety, especially since discovering the gun,” she said.

“He is dangerous and ruthless when he believes that he has been wronged.”

On June 21, Fotis was obliged to turn his un-permitted gun over to the Farmington police.

me away,” says Rachel Louise Snyder. “What’s that Tom Cruise movie where he predicts future crimes and stops them? Minority Report. I can’t even tell you how many people referenced that movie when I was working on this book.” Dr. Campbell’s startling findings are now used jointly by police and domestic abuse clinics as the “Lethality Assessment Program.” Five Connecticut towns, Greenwich among them, piloted LAP in 2012; now it’s state-wide, in every municipality. “LAP has really allowed us to work collaboratively with law-enforcement,” says Ann Rodwell-Lawton, director of programming and quality assurance for the Stamford-based DVCC. “Law-enforcement often would leave the scene feeling like they didn’t do enough. Now, with this program, if someone screens at high risk, police are required to connect that victim to an advocate in real-time, before they leave the scene.” The advocate then develops a safety plan with the victim, who could otherwise be imperiled all over again when her abuser makes bail.

Family court is one realm where domestic violence is not given its vital due. Judges shunt aside claims of abuse in the interest of what they see as the primary goal—keeping both divorcing parents in children’s lives.

In a landmark study on domestic abuse and custody battles, Joan S. Meier, a professor of clinical law at George Washington Law School in Washington, D.C., found that judges usually do not “credit” claims of intimate partner violence, and almost never credit claims of child sexual abuse. (This flies in the face of conventional thought, which holds that a mother need only cry abuse to “win.”) The upshot can be alarming: In judges’ desire for a co-parenting outcome, thousands of children each year are delivered into the unsupervised care of an abusive parent, usually the man.

“Unfortunately, the moment someone raises domestic violence in the context of family court, the court views it as a mechanism for that person to try to get a leg-up,” says Karen Jarmoc, who heads the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, or CCADV. “It’s incredibly discouraging.”

Equally discouraging is the fact that abusers

“SHE TOLD PEOPLE SHE WAS SCARED...

THAT’S ALL WE NEED TO KNOW.” —rachel louise snyder, author

excel at being believed. Far from coming off as misfits or psychos, they’re usually solid citizens, articulate and even charming. Think of Rob Porter, the White House Staff Secretary forced to resign in 2018 after both of his ex-wives’ claims of abuse came to light. “The average abusive person, he’s two different people—the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome,” says Suzanne Adam, executive director of DVCC. “They could be a coach, a congressman, a mayor, a salesman.” Mary Lee A. Kiernan, president and chief executive of YWCA Greenwich, adds, “They can be perfectly pleasant and agreeable in the workplace and go home and be a monster.” Meredith Gold, director of domestic abuse services at YWCA Greenwich, asks us to picture the abuser and the abused at a parent-teacher conference.

“The abuser is the one who is very much in control, who has got it together, who’s slick and cool,” she says. “And his wife might be acting flaky or flighty or inconsistent. We know that behavior is a direct result of trauma.”

Judge Thomas Colin denied Jennifer’s bid for emergency custody. While the judge clearly grasped Fotis’s domineering nature, he was unconvinced that the children were at risk of physical or psychological harm. No doubt Jennifer’s admission that Fotis wasn’t a hitter factored in Colin’s ruling. “The court is hopeful that once things settle down and cooler heads prevail, these extremely well educated and accomplished parents will be able to reach an agreement,” he said. Alas, Colin did not credit Jennifer’s unambiguously stated terror. “She SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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told people she was scared,” says Rachel Louise Snyder. “That’s all we need to know.” From a judge’s point of view, though, the Dulos case may have looked like just another high-conflict Connecticut divorce in which the parties bleed each other dry.

Karen Jarmoc stresses that family court judges should be better versed in detecting signs of abuse. “Domestic violence is not, on its face, always easy to view,” she says. “It’s important to understand how the offender uses a series of strategies to manipulate, harass, intimidate and threaten their partner.” Brent Reeves of the Greenwich Police Department illustrates what she means. “I’ve arrested people for sending a smiley face emoji,” he says, referring to a case in which the offender had a “no contact” protective order against him. “That smiley face is a felony—and it’s only an emoji. What I train the officers is, it’s not the action, it’s what the action represents.

That action represents to the victim that the offender can reach out to her at any time, regardless of the police, regardless of the judge, regardless of the process. They don’t care. After years of abuse, think of the fear that that smiley face emoji instills in the victim when she gets it at two o’clock in the morning.”

In Fotis’s case, the intimidation was not so subtle. Days after Jennifer was denied emergency custody, Lauren Almeida found her crying in the driveway of the first of her two New Canaan rental homes, on Chichester Lane. Fotis had just been there, she said; he’d driven up in his S.U.V. and accelerated at Jennifer, who leapt out of the way as the children watched. “You’re insane,” Fotis reportedly told her. “You should be locked away. Why don’t you pop another pill?”

He reportedly added, “I can do whatever I want.

You don’t have a restraining order.”

HE’S COME UNDONE As the divorce case progressed, things started going badly for Fotis. To begin with, the ravenous machinery of divorce—lawyers, psychologists, family therapists, guardians ad litem, custody monitors, forensic auditors— required Fotis to shell out hundreds of

thousands of dollars. Beyond that, however, he had only himself to blame. In flagrant violation of Judge Colin’s order that the children not be exposed to romantic partners, Fotis let them spend time with Michelle and her daughter, who were now ensconced at 4 Jefferson Crossing. Then he coached the children to lie about it to a court-appointed psychologist.

Colin had returned to private practice, so it fell to Judge Donna Heller to throw the book at Fotis.

On March 1, 2018, she suspended his visitation rights and awarded sole physical custody to Jennifer. Heller said Fotis “does not seem to appreciate in any respect the consequences of lying under oath and willfully violating a court order. His facility in testifying falsely to the court suggests that he is equally comfortable in encouraging the children to lie to achieve his desired outcome.” Though the file is publicly available, some of it remains under seal, so we may never know the reason why Heller added: “[T]here is an immediate and present risk of psychological harm to the children if they have unrestricted and unsupervised contact with the defendant, as well as a risk of physical danger.”

Thus we find a man accustomed to total control reduced to helplessness by the court.

Fotis proceeded to act as though he was the persecuted one. “He’s always the victim,” says Jennifer’s longtime friend. “He’s never at fault.

He believes he’s great and has done everything right and everybody is just against him.” Sure enough, Fotis asserted that it was actually Jennifer who would say the disparaging, threatening things. She’s supposed to have told the children, “I can have the Mafia break your dad’s legs with a baseball bat.” But Heller said the evidence suggested that Fotis had invented the charge and pressured the children to repeat it. (Abusers are not always so readily caught out.

In fact, Karen Jarmoc says, family court often constitutes a new arena for domestic abuse— “legal abuse”—accomplished with a storm of motions, “dragging someone back into court again and again.” Fotis, as it happens, out-filed Jennifer by about two to one.)

Finding himself undone in Heller’s courtroom, Fotis slyly endeavored to get her disqualified from the case. At some point in

WE’VE COME A LONG WAY, BUT… Connecticut holds a historic place in the annals of domestic violence

then did the police arrest him.

Tracey survived, and won a $2.3 million judgment against the Torrington Police Department. “From that moment on, Connecticut took domestic violence very seriously,” says Suzanne Adam, executive director of the Stamford-based Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Thurman’s case gave rise to the Family Violence Prevention and Response Act of 1986, also known as the Thurman Law, which requires police to make an arrest when confronted with domestic violence. Before that, police would ask a victim if she wanted to press charges—and she might well be too afraid to do so. Also, an arrested abuser must now be arraigned the next day, so that a judge can

O

quickly put into place an order

from her estranged husband,

both parties when each pointed

Charles “Buck” Thurman, as

a finger at the other. This had

the Torrington police officer

the effect of re-punishing the

she’d summoned waited in

abused person and dissuading

his car across the street. Buck

her from ever calling the police

slashed Tracey’s cheek with

again—and Connecticut had

a knife, stabbed her in the

the highest “dual arrest” rate

neck, then threw her down

in the country. (Dual arrests

and stabbed her twelve more

also took mothers away from

times. Finally the officer

their children, temporarily but

entered the yard and got Buck

traumatically.) In 2018 the state

to give him the knife. But he

passed its dominant aggressor

made no arrest. He stood by

law, requiring police to “figure

as Buck kicked Tracey in the

out who the bad guy is, and

head and broke her neck. As

only arrest the bad guy,” as Sgt.

paramedics loaded Tracey into

Brent Reeves of Greenwich

the ambulance, Buck made yet

Police Department’s Special

another run at her—and only

Victims Section puts it. The law,

n June 10, 1983, Tracey

westportmag.com

74

of protection.

State law continues to evolve.

Thurman

After 1986, domestic violence

received one

arrests rose dramatically, but

last beating

police were obligated to arrest

applauded by police, advocates

domestic violence in all its

notes that Ireland voted to

send them anywhere,” Rachel

and victims alike, went into

shades, and the Connecticut

do so in 2018. Its Domestic

Louise Snyder tells us. “It’s just

effect on January 1, 2019.

Coalition Against Domestic

Violence Act 2018 criminalizes

a complete misread of what the

Violence has proposed

psychological and emotional

psychological underpinnings

violence are often linked, but

legislation to create one. If

abuse, or “coercive control,”

are. You can quote me on that

Connecticut’s family court

judges could confidently

recognizing “that the effect

twice.”)

system is ill-equipped to deal

determine the presence of

of non-violent control in an

with the two issues at once,

abuse, they could make better

intimate relationship can be as

reauthorization every five years.

critics charge. One easy fix:

decisions, says Karen Jarmoc,

harmful to victims as physical

Alas, we’re still waiting for the

make abusers suffer serious

CCADV’s chief executive. The

abuse,” said Charlie Flanagan,

2018 reauthorization—largely

consequences for breaking

Connecticut Judicial Branch

Ireland’s Minister of Justice and

because of certain senators’

restraining and protective

says it has a guidebook

Equality.

objection to a provision barring

orders (for now they don’t,

already, but Jarmoc believes

advocates say, though some

it’s inadequate: “It’s just

altered the complexion of

violence, including stalking, from

criminal defense lawyers

something they’ve developed

domestic violence in the United

possessing firearms. Current

would disagree). A harder

internally, without the expertise

States. The first was O.J.

and former spouses convicted

fix: identifying abuse in

of other disciplines” such as

Simpson’s arrest for the murder

of domestic violence crimes

the context of divorce and

psychologists, family lawyers

of his ex-wife Nicole Brown

already are prohibited from

custody battles. Family court

and researchers, she says.

Simpson and her friend Ron

keeping firearms; this provision

Divorce and domestic

Two national events greatly

VAWA requires Congressional

those convicted of “dating”

judges (nationwide, not just

Meanwhile, state Sen. Alex

Goldman in 1994. As Rachel

would close the so-called

here) usually reject claims of

Kasser, a Greenwich Democrat,

Louise Snyder wrote in her

boyfriend loophole. As the date

domestic violence, and worse,

has proposed the Child

groundbreaking book No Visible

for reauthorization came and

“The victim actually gets

Safety First bill, also known

Bruises, published last year, “Her

went, actress and activist Alyssa

punished for bringing up the

as Jennifer’s Law, in honor of

murder hurled into the forefront

Milano tweeted, “What kind

issue of abuse,” says Meredith

Jennifer Farber Dulos, which

a conversation that advocates

of country allows its Violence

Gold, director of abuse services

would bring big changes to

had been having for years—that

Against Women Act to expire?”

at YWCA Greenwich. For

family court. It would, for

it could happen anywhere, to

example: Where judges usually

instance, make domestic abuse

anyone.”

disbelieve, or at least shrug

a paramount consideration.

The second event was

person at the New Canaan

off, abuse claims, they usually

It would also put cases with

the passage of the Violence

Police Department, offers

believe the abuser’s typical

more than 100 filings—and thus

Against Women Act, or VAWA,

sunnier news. Intimate partner

counter-claim—that the victim

suggestive of “legal abuse”—on

introduced by Sen. Joe Biden

violence cases in his town

is fabricating the charge in an

a special track. And crucially,

in 1990 but only passed in the

dropped from a high of 96 in

attempt to alienate him from

it would broaden the definition

wake of Nicole’s murder in

2005 to 22 in 2018, the latest

his children. So not only is the

of domestic violence in family

1994. VAWA provides funding to

year for which there are stats.

victim granted no protections,

court beyond physical violence,

cities and towns for domestic

Why the remarkable decline?

but she risks her abuser gaining

threatening and stalking to

violence services such as

“A continuous education

some or even majority custody

include emotional abuse,

advocates, shelters, transitional

campaign for umpteen years,”

of the children as the judge

intimidation, isolation and

housing, legal training,

he says, noting the work of

attempts to “correct” the

financial abuse (this might

and abuser intervention

such groups as the Domestic

alienation. According to the

range from denying the victim

programs. (Regarding the

Violence Crisis Center, which

Center for Judicial Excellence,

access to bank accounts to

last: Connecticut courts often

covers New Canaan.

738 U.S. children have been

ruining her credit).

mandate anger management

killed by a divorcing or

Rachel Louise Snyder sums

classes for abusers, though

up our current domestic

president and chief executive

domestic violence is far less

violence picture like this:

of YWCA Greenwich, would like

about anger than about the

“People ask me all the time, ‘Are

expert-produced bench books

to see a similarly broadened

need to exert power and

things getting better or worse?’

to help judges recognize

definition in criminal law: she

control. “They might as well not

And my answer is ‘Yes.’”

separating parent since 2008.

Some states assemble

Mary Lee A. Kiernan,

Officer Michael O’Sullivan, the domestic violence point

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

75

GETTING HELP

Fairfield County has a rich network of services to guide you, whether you need practical advice and counseling, legal help, economic help, immediate shelter, safety planning, or all of the above Domestic violence, often called intimate partner violence or private violence, can be confusing to navigate. You might share good times with your abuser between the bad, and think that leaving is not the answer. You might be afraid to leave. You might think that leaving is impossible: Where would you go? What about the kids?

STAMFORD, NORWALK, WESTPORT, NEW CANAAN, DARIEN, WILTON OR WESTON

GREENWICH YWCA Greenwich Abuse Services 24/7 hotline

Domestic Violence Crisis Center, or DVCC

203-622-0003

888-774-2900

FAIRFIELD, BRIDGEPORT, EASTON, MONROE, STRATFORD AND TRUMBULL

RIDGEFIELD, REDDING, BETHEL, NEWTOWN, DANBURY, OR NEW FAIRFIELD

Center for Family Justice’s domestic abuse hotline

Women’s Center of Greater Danbury’s hotline

203-384-9559

203-731-5206

CTSafeConnect

National Domestic Violence Hotline

888-774-2900

1-800-799-7233

Visit any of these organizations’ websites for more information. (You can also call the police, but know they are obligated to investigate once you do call them.)

ost people call for help after experiencing abuse for a while; a few call after a single M bewildering incident. “I’ve had calls where someone’s had a wonderful relationship for three years, they get married, something happens on the honeymoon, and they’re reaching out for help the next day,” says Suzanne Adam, executive director at DVCC. So what happens when you do call for help? Meredith Gold, YWCA Greenwich’s director of domestic abuse services, says, “You reach our staff directly, and we do an immediate needs assessment and risk assessment, to find out what’s happening right now. Are you safe? Do you need medical? Do you need the police? Once that’s established, we try to understand what’s going on, and why you’re reaching out for help.” The next step might be to meet with a counselor in person. (But bear in mind: While advocates keep your story confidential, they are mandated to report any child or elder abuse that you reveal.)

Advocates understand that your life may well be resistant to easy solutions. “It’s very important to know that we just don’t tell victims to leave,” says Ann Rodwell-Lawton, director of programming and quality assurance for DVCC. “It’s much more complex.”

Indeed, for some who leave, the leaving may be a long, slow process.

Advocates also understand that abusers’ recidivism rates are high. So the best thing you can do is reach out to a domestic abuse service for help (even if you think your situation is not dire). “It’s the single strongest protective factor for intimate partner violence homicide, to be connected to a domestic violence provider,” says Meredith Gold.

“Sadly, we know that only 4 percent of women who have been murdered by a current or former spouse have reached out.”

By March the coronavirus pandemic had brought providers a wave of new problems: victims were trapped at home with their abusers, who sometimes threatened to kick them out if they got sick. But our domestic violence services, like our doctors and nurses, have struggled bravely on, taking care of the many in need.

2018, he called a bluechip New York divorce lawyer to ask about representation, explaining his intense dissatisfaction with his case out in Stamford. The lawyer said that hiring him would entail a $25,000 retainer, and there the matter ended. The lawyer’s name was Norman Heller— husband of Donna. On the basis of that one brief phone conversation, Fotis said, Judge Heller had “a reasonable appearance of impropriety” and should remove herself from the case. (Fotis made the dubious claim that he had no idea the two Hellers were related.) Jennifer’s attorney, the Greenwich-based Reuben Midler, noted that once again Fotis had deployed the “manipulative, coercive and scheming behaviors” he’d used throughout the case.

But Fotis wasn’t done. He told Heller he’d written to the state’s Judicial Selection Commission, accusing her of bias. He offered that perhaps she didn’t like him because he was Greek. “Judge Heller has ruled against me over and over,” he wrote. “I am not an alcoholic; I am not a drug addict; I am not an abuser.

I am a good father and my children adore me.” (Heller did not recuse herself, and the commission took no action.)

In retrospect, it’s Dulos’s words from the March 2018 hearing that stick in the mind. “I really want to see my children,” the frustrated father said. “I’m not Charles Manson.”

QUESTIONS, UNANSWERED If Fotis killed his wife, why did he do it? What spurred him to action? In some ways his prospects had brightened. A psychological evaluation described him as “confident and gregarious,” and Judge Heller relaxed his visitation rights. On May 22, 2019, two days before Jennifer went missing, he picnicked with the children in her back yard in New Canaan (albeit in the presence of an official observer). Nothing went awry. One might expect some visible sign, some hint, of the looming fatality. Then again the court warfare, now 470 filings deep, was dragging on like the nightmarishly ceaseless case at the heart of Bleak House, and Fotis’s financial life was in ruins: was $4 million in debt and Gloria Farber

was suing him for those massive unrepaid loans. Speculation ran that his motive could have been pure, desperate greed: If he had sole custody of his five children, then he’d have access to their collective $10 million in trust funds.

Yet doesn’t it strain the imagination to think of Fotis attacking “his Jennie,” the mother of his children, with such calculated, coldblooded, brutality? Isn’t there a disconnect here? He’d never raised a hand against her.

Jacquelyn Campbell, though, wonders whether this is strictly true. “It would be highly unlikely for an abuser to go from controlling-insultingthreatening (except with a weapon) to murder,” she tells us by email. “The odds are that she was physically abused and didn’t tell anyone (as in forced into sex), and that she was threatened with a weapon, which is considered physical abuse.” The physical abuse seems unlikely, though friends say she was too private a woman to confide any sexual trespasses. But the threat with a weapon? It would signify an extreme mindset not too far from the actual deed. And sure enough, it happened. Fotis’s speeding at Jennifer with his S.U.V. absolutely qualifies, Dr. Campbell says. The weapon need not be anything so overt as a knife or a gun, only potentially lethal, “and a car definitely is.”

Over the next two years, the frustrations of the divorce process, and of the financial freefall, would arguably heighten that violent mentality.

After Jennifer disappeared, Fotis may have imagined he’d removed his afflicting thorn. As Lady Mcbeth tells her husband, “a little water clears us of this deed.” But Fotis made one critical error: On the night of May 24 he took his cell phone to Hartford. Investigators traced its activity to Albany Avenue, which led to the surveillance footage of Fotis’s Ford Raptor creeping down the street, stopping every so often so he could unload a bag containing items smeared with Jennifer’s blood. The footage led to recovery of the bags themselves, and following the chain backward, to the New Canaan surveillance footage. The first arrests, for tampering and hindering prosecution, came only a week after Jennifer went missing. Judge Heller promptly handed down an emergency

“WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL, BECAUSE IF WE SPEAK UP, OR ATTEMPT TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN, WE WILL BE HARMED IN SOME WAY.” —friend of jennifer dulos and victim of domestic violence

order forbidding Fotis from contacting his children. The unraveling had begun.

Last January, after rigorous investigation finally produced murder and kidnapping charges, Fotis must have known he’d been cornered. And yet he managed to commit one last act of abuse against Jennifer. Grieving citizens had laid out a memorial for her, consisting of candles and flowers, on a large rock at the foot of Jefferson Crossing. Had Fotis truly been worried about Jennifer, he might have appreciated the little shrine. Instead he dismantled it. “What you did was stupid,” said Judge Gary White, threatening to double his $6 million bond. When Fotis got home from court that day, he found the memorial back in place, bigger and brighter than before.

A week later he was dead, having locked himself in the garage and inhaled a fatal dose of carbon monoxide. In the car beside him lay a suicide note written neatly on lined paper. “If you are reading this I am no more. I refuse to spend even an hour more in jail for something I had NOTHING to do with,” he wrote. Would an innocent man surrender his life in quite this way? Fotis had spent only a droplet of time in jail, but a property foreclosure now called into question the soundness of the bond he’d SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

77

posted. This day, January 28, might well be his last as a free man. (Or so he thought: it turns out that a new bondsman was ready to step in.)

“My attorney can explain what happened with the bags on Albany Avenue,” Fotis continued.

“Everything else is a story fabricated by the law enforcement.”

Norm Pattis made the big reveal at Stamford Superior Court on March 3. On the day Jennifer went missing, a person supposedly known to everyone in the case—but whom Pattis would not name—dumped the bags of bloody clothes on the back porch of 4 Jefferson Crossing. After finding this person standing near “a pile of debris in his yard,” Fotis panicked, loaded the bags into the Raptor, and set off for Hartford.

That’s what Pattis said. It’s a vague and confusing story. Did Fotis say anything to this “third party”? Where did this person go? (He or she must have parked at Fotis’s house in order to unload the bags.) If the person’s goal was to kill Jennifer and frame Fotis, then why deliver the evidence to him? Or did this person mistakenly think he or she was doing Fotis a favor—is that where the Pattis defense was headed?

A final question: Where is Jennifer’s body?

From Pound Ridge to West Hartford, police scoured woods and parks, private lands and vacant houses; they probed lakes, streams, reservoirs, dump sites. Nothing. To think of Jennifer unceremoniously dropped into a pit or a pond only extends this appalling tragedy.

If she’s nowhere, she’s also everywhere, in that heavy-weather way of unresolved stories.

Perhaps we’ll learn more when the Troconis and Mawhinney cases—delayed by the pandemic— come to trial. Meanwhile, we the public have come to know Jennifer in a small way, and thus to see the beauty and intelligence and compassion that her friends describe. Those friends can still hear Jennifer’s voice when they close their eyes. What might she say, after all that has passed? She gave an answer long ago, in a blog post addressed to her children. I embrace you—all. I want to keep you safe and strong and wholly You… All five attentive faces that I watch and keep tabs on each and every day and night. You are the ghosts who continually and W wonderfully haunt me.

2020

AL ASHION

by megan gagnon

FRESH-FROM-THE-RUNWAY IDEAS TO GUIDE US THROUGH A NEW SEASON

SEE BY CHLOÉ

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ven if you’re dressing up and staying in, we've gathered all the latest looks to get you out of your sweats and into something chic. (Don’t worry, luxe slippers are still in the mix.)

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83

shopping guide

LOCAL

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SHOP SMALL

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ow that you’ve made a checklist of the must-have pieces to add to your closet, let us remind you of all the shopping opportunities right here in our towns—from family-owned department stores on the Post Road to boutiques that line our bustling main streets. Revisit the ones you love and discover the ones that are not on your radar (but should be). The only thing better than that freshoutfit feeling is knowing you’re supporting the businesses and people that make our communities great. westportmag.com

84

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OLD GREENWICH & WESTPORT

FRED

PENFIELD BY ALEX TATYLOR; PERFECT PROVENANCE BY JULIE BIDWELL; IMAGES COURTESY OF STORES

GREAT STUFF

You could build your whole wardrobe here—and you'll want to—when you see the selection of dresses by Misa and LoveShackFancy, Rebecca Taylor tops and denim for every jean queen.

The name says it all. This old school boutique is stocked with the newest staples from designers like DVF and Nili Lotan.

WESTPORT

TINA DRAGONE Tina’s expert edit of clothing and accessories has made her a go-to since her start in 1983. With racks of L’Agence, Milly and Elie Tahari, it’s no wonder customers keep coming back.

FAIRFIELD

ROWAYTON

CHOU CHOU

PENFIELD COLLECTIVE

Katharine Sanford’s seaside spot is always worth checking out, whether you’re in the market for fabulous shoes, daytime dresses or customizable basics.

Vanessa Lewis is the perfect face for her sunny store.

You’ll always be greeted with the smile—and plenty of style—in what we can only assume is a larger version of the owner's own closet. W

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

85

MARA MILLER Carrier and Company

JUDGES

JESSE CARRIER Carrier and Company

BRIAN SAWYER Sawyer | Berson

EDWARD SIEGEL Edward Siegel Architect

JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT SEPTEMBER 16 5:30 PM

KEITH WILLIAMS Nievera Williams

A-List Awards 2020

TH

BRITT ZUNINO Studio DB

11 ANNUAL

athome magazine presents the

DAMIAN ZUNINO Studio DB

EXCLUSIVE GIFT BAG SPONSOR

PRESENTING SPONSORS

EXCLUSIVE AWARD SPONSOR

Our Sponsors

87

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

We hope this year’s set of finalists, with their innovative and imaginative projects, is just the inspiration you have been looking for. Join us on September 16, 2020 for our virtual awards ceremony, where the winners for each category will be revealed. We wish our finalists much luck, and we thank all who entered, as well as our judges and our generous sponsors, who have made this celebration possible.

The following is a listing of the 2020 A-List Awards finalists by category. Please note that this listing includes the entrant’s name and contact information for each finalist. To view the full list of professionals credited for each project as well as a project photo, please visit athomealistawards.com to view our new digital A-List Awards program. Each finalist “page” can be shared on social media, and the link to each “page” can be included on a website or forwarded via email.

This year has been unlike any other. Due to the worldwide pandemic, our vision for 2020 has been altered—we have been sheltering at home, pivoting how and where we work, and adapting to an ever-changing reality. Despite these unprecedented challenges, our design community has created and embraced a new vision for 2020—they have shown, now more than ever, how essential good design is to making our spaces reflect who we are, how we live, and the way we want to feel. Against all odds, we received more entries than ever before in this year’s A-List competition, and our esteemed panel of judges had the unenviable task of determining the finalists from a truly impressive pool of submissions.

We thank our judges for giving their time and expertise to this year’s competition.

Welcome to athome magazine’s eleventh annual A-List Awards.

Separate but together

Laura Kaehler Architects @laurakaehlerarchitects Laura Kaehler, Principal Matt Arnott, Project Architect Laura Kaehler Architects Greenwich; 203-629-4646 kaehlerarchitects.com

Hemingway Fine Homes @hemingwayconstruction Hemingway Fine Homes Greenwich; 203-625-0566 hemingwayconstruction.com

Clarity Home Interiors @clarityhome Amy Zolin Clarity Home Interiors Greenwich; 203-340-2468 clarityhomeinteriors.com

BATH DESIGN: Transitional/Modern

Steven Mueller Architects @steven_mueller_architects Steven Mueller Architects Greenwich; 203-869-3758 stevenmuellerarchitects.com

Sage Design @sage_design_ct Kathy Hodge Sage Design Fairfield; 203-553-9656 sagedesign.com

Pimlico Interiors @pimlicointeriors Melissa Lindsay Pimlico Interiors Westport; 203-972-8166 pimlicointeriors.com

Mark P. Finlay Architects @mpfarchitects Jay Valade Deborah Szabo Maureen Kokorda Mark P. Finlay Architects Southport; 203-254-2388 markfinlay.com

BATH DESIGN: Trad/Classic

Morgan Harrison Home @morganharrisonhome Morgan Harrison Home New Canaan; 203-554-0941 morganharrisonhome.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

DINING ROOM

Neil Hauck Architects @neil_hauck_architects Neil Hauck, Principal Brian O’Connor Robert Metzgar Neil Hauck Architects Darien; 203-655-9340 neilhauckarchitects.com

Laura Kaehler Architects @laurakaehlerarchitects Laura Kaehler, Lead Designer Richard Basic, Team Architect Victor Sheptovitsky, Team Architect Laura Kaehler Architects Greenwich; 203-629-4646 kaehlerarchitects.com

Cobble Court Interiors @cobblecourtinteriors Robert Rizzo Cobble Court Interiors New Canaan; 203-972-7878 cobblecourt.com

Jody Fierz Interior Design Ridgefield; 203-722-1447 jodyfierz.com

Jody Fierz Interior Design with Doyle Coffin Architecture @jodyfierzint @doylecoffin @doylecoffininteriors

Huestis Tucker Architects @huestistuckerarchitects Jennifer Huestis Huestis Tucker Architects Woodbridge; 203-248-1007 huestistucker.com

KITCHEN DESIGN: Trad/Classic

The Rath Project @therathproject Diane Rath The Rath Project Fairfield; 518-542-6268 therathproject.com

Pimlico Interiors @pimlicointeriors Melissa Lindsay Pimlico Interiors Westport; 203-972-8166 pimlicointeriors.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

ENTRYWAY

Robin Henry Studio @robinhenryid Robin Henry Studio Westport; 646-409-3099 robinhenrystudio.com

COMMERCIAL SPACE: Interior Design + Architecture Beinfield Architecture @beinfieldarchitecture Beinfield Architecture Norwalk; 203-838-5789 beinfield.com

Pimlico Interiors @pimlicointeriors Melissa Lindsay Pimlico Interiors Westport; 203-972-8166 pimlicointeriors.com

Studio KC @studiokcinteriors Katie Canfield Studio KC Stamford; 845-705-0684 studiokcinteriors.com

Robin Carroll (Interior Designer) KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP @karpassociatesinc

Deane, Inc. @kitchensbydeane Peter Deane Deane, Inc. Stamford; 203-327-7008 deaneinc.com

Alisberg Parker Architects @alisbergparker Susan Alisberg Alisberg Parker Architects Old Greenwich 203-637-8730 alisbergparker.com

KITCHEN DESIGN: Transitional/Modern

Sarah Blank Design Studio @sarahblankdesign Sarah Blank Design Studio Greenwich; 203-655-6900 sarahblankdesignstudio.com

Robert Dean Architects @robertdeanarchitects Robert Dean Architects New Canaan; 203-966-8333 robertdeanarchitects.com

Morgan Harrison Home @morganharrisonhome Morgan Harrison Home New Canaan; 203-594-7878 morganharrisonhome.com

Peter Coffin Doyle Coffin Architecture Ridgefield; 203-431-6001 doylecoffinarchitecture.com

JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT / SEPTEMBER 16 / 5:30 PM

Roughan Interiors @roughaninteriors Roughan Interiors Weston and New York City 203-769-1150 roughaninteriors.com

Pimlico Interiors @pimlicointeriors Melissa Lindsay Pimlico Interiors Westport; 203-972-8166 pimlicointeriors.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

Charles Hilton Charles Hilton Architects Greenwich; 203-489-3800 hiltonarchitects.com

Ray Forehand Christina Lake Forehand + Lake Fairfield; 203-259-7636 forehandlake.com

Forehand + Lake with Charles Hilton Architects @forehand_lakedesign @charleshiltonarchitects

BEDROOM: Trad/Classic

Sage & Ginger @sageandgingerdesigns Emily Fuhrman Sage & Ginger New Canaan; 203-594-9862 sageandginger.com

Ryan Salvatore Design @ryansalvatorearchitecture Ryan Salvatore Design New York City; 212-475-0050 ryan-salvatore.com

ADDRESS:

Tischler und Sohn (USA) Ltd.

Tischler products are manufactured in our environmentally and Tischler und Sohn manufactures custom mahogany wood windows computer-controlled facility. These products consist of both European and doors in Germany. and domestic-style profiles and continue to be the benchmark in the products are manufactured our environmentally and industry,Tischler providing unsurpassed quality and in durability. computer-controlled facility. These products consist of both European To better serve our clients Tischler has added thermally broken, laserand domestic-style profiles and continue to be the benchmark in the cut stainless steel and hot-rolled steel, bronze and stainless steel industry, providing unsurpassed quality and durability. windows and doors. In addition, Tischler offers an aluminum sliding To system better serve ourofclients has added thermally broken, operating capable sizes Tischler up to thirty-nine feet by nine feet laser-cut stainless hot-rolled bronze and stainless steel ten inches and fixed units steel up toand twenty feet bysteel, ten feet six inches. windows and doors.a In addition, Tischler offers an aluminum sliding This product incorporates revolutionary patented pneumatic operating capable of sizes up to thirty-nine gasket system thatsystem can withstand extreme wind pressure. feet All by nine feet ten inches and with fixedspecifications units up to twenty feet by ten feet six inches. products are available that meet Florida Building This product incorporates a revolutionary patented pneumatic Code requirements for hurricane impact resistance, and air and gasket system thatproducts can withstand extremeready-to-install wind pressure.by All water infiltration.

Tischler are delivered products aretechnicians. available with specifications that meet Florida Building our factory-trained Code requirements for hurricane impact resistance, and air and water infiltration. Tischler products are delivered ready-to-install by our factory-trained technicians.

Tischler und Sohn manufactures custom mahogany wood windows and doors in Germany.

tischlerwindows.com

WEBSITE:

203-674-0600

tischlerwindows.com PHONE:

WEBSITE:

203-674-0600 Six Suburban Avenue Stamford, CT 06901

PHONE:

Six Suburban Avenue Stamford, CT 06901

ADDRESS:

Tischler und Sohn (USA) Ltd.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

PRESENTING SPONSOR

89

A-LIST FINALISTS 2020 Alist.tischler.7.20.indd 1 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

Tischler und Sohn (USA) Ltd. Six Suburban Avenue, Stamford, CT 06901 Telephone 203/674/0600 • Telefax 203/674/0601

ÂŽ

7/28/20 11:59 AM

TISCHLER WINDOWS AND DOORS. UNCOMMON. UNCOMPROMISING.

ARCHITECT: MARK P. FINLAY ARCHITECTS, AIA PHOTO BY WARREN JAGGER

Hobbs, Inc.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Hobbs, Inc. is an award-winning builder of distinctive homes in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Brothers Scott and Ian Hobbs are proud to honor the legacy of integrity, quality and Hobbs,instilled Inc. is an builder of distinctive homes in client service by award-winning their grandfather and founder, Theodore Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Brothers Scott and Ian deFreyne Hobbs, over six decades ago.

Hobbs are proud to honor the legacy of integrity, quality and The company sustainsinstilled strong,by collaborative relationships with Theodore client service their grandfather and founder, the mostdeFreyne respected architects and designers in the construction Hobbs, over six decades ago. industry. They employ experienced, dedicated professionals and company relationships talentedThe craftsmen to sustains plan andstrong, executecollaborative every step of the “Hobbs with the most respected architects and designers in the construction Approach” for each project. Whether renovating an apartment in industry.

They employ experienced, dedicated professionals New York City, constructing a waterfront home in the Hamptons or and to plan and execute every of the “Hobbs buildingtalented a family craftsmen retreat in Connecticut, each team is instep constant Approach” for each project. Whether apartment in communication to deliver a superior building renovating experience an from New York City, constructing a waterfront home in the Hamptons or concept to completion and beyond. Hobbs Care, a division of Hobbs, building a family retreat in Connecticut, each team is in constant Inc., is available to clients to provide comprehensive maintenance communication to deliver a superior building experience from programs, renovations and continual home improvement services. concept to completion and beyond. Hobbs Care, a division of Hobbs, The company’s success to is marked byprovide their transparency, synergy Inc., is available clients to comprehensive maintenance and determination to adhere to the values and client services thatservices. programs, renovations and continual home improvement make the company great.

The company’s success is marked by their transparency, synergy and determination to adhere to the values and client services that make the company great.

hobbsinc.com; hobbs-care.com

WEBSITES:

203-966-0726

WEBSITES: PHONE:hobbs-care.com hobbsinc.com;

Hobbs Care: New Canaan, CT | Saddle River, NJ Hobbs, Inc: New Canaan, CT | New York, NY PHONE: Saddle River, NJ | Bridgehampton, NY 203-966-0726 Hobbs Care: New Canaan, CT | Saddle River, NJ

ADDRESS:

Hobbs, Inc: New Canaan, CT | New York, NY Saddle River, NJ | Bridgehampton, NY

ADDRESS:

Hobbs, Inc.

A-LIST SPONSOR

203.966.0726

www.hobbsinc.com

CONNECTICUT • NEW YORK • NEW JERSEY

DISTINCTIVE HOMES, ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS

Jane Beiles Photography Interior Design by Lynn Morgan Brooks & Falotico Associates, Inc.

A-LIST FINALISTS 2020 JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT / SEPTEMBER 16 / 5:30 PM

Fairview Hearthside Fairview Hearthside ADDRESS:

NY 12601

Hobbs A-List Program ad 2019 FINAL bleed.indd 1

91

TOP DISTRIBUTOR OF

68 Violet Avenue | Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 Call for a free estimate: 845 452-8444 fairviewhearthside.com

The Leader in Sales and Installation of Fireplaces and Outdoor Kitchens Serving Fairfield and Westchester Counties

A-LIST FINALISTS 2020 7/26/19 11:53 AM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

Our team sales would team would be happy visitjob your or home Our sales be happy to visittoyour sitejob orsite home for for a free estimate for your dream project!

Please give us a a free estimate for your dream project! Please give us a call at call at 452-8444 or email us at info@fairviewhearthside.com and CONNECTICUT • NEW YORK • NEWand JERSEY (845) (845) 452-8444 or email us at info@fairviewhearthside.com we will be happy to speak with you.

203.966.0726 www.hobbsinc.com we will be happy to speak with you.

Our pledge is to deliver an extraordinary service while Our pledge is to deliver an extraordinary service while maintaining a high level of professionalism, integrity, foresight, maintaining a high level of professionalism, integrity, foresight, and fairness. are committed to growing Fairview Hearthside and fairness.

We areWe committed to growing Fairview Hearthside DISTINCTIVE HOMES,satisfaction.

ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS through complete customer through complete customer satisfaction.

Each project that Fairview Hearthside is involved in takes careful Each project that Fairview Hearthside is involved in takes careful thought and planning, and we pride ourselves on the ability to thought and planning and we pride ourselves on the ability to work with the customer in choosing the fireplace that best suits work with the customer in choosing the fireplace that best suits their style and needs. Fairview Hearthside offers many services their style and needs. Fairview Hearthside offers many services to complete your project, from designing the look that you want to complete your project, from designing the look that you want to achieve through the follow-up maintenance of your hearth to achieve through the follow up maintenance of your hearth product for years to come. We maintain a staff of experienced, product for years to come. We maintain a staff of experienced, Jane Beiles Photography well-traveled and fully ensured technicians, as well as specialists Interior Design by Lynn Morgan Brookswell-traveled & Falotico Associates, Inc. and fully ensured technicians, as well as specialists in our Sales/Design team, and we are confident that your project in our Sales/ Design team and we are confident that your project will be handled with professionalism, thoroughness, cleanliness, will be handled with professionalism, thoroughness, cleanliness, and with safety in mind. and with safety in mind.

For over 40 years, Fairview Hearthside is the Hudson Valley’s For over 40 years Fairview Hearthside is the Hudson Valley’s first name in hearth products. Having recently renovated our first name in hearth products. Having recently renovated our showroom at 68 Violet Avenue in Poughkeepsie, NY, we continue showroom at 68 Violet Avenue Poughkeepsie, NY, we continue to serve builders, architects, and designers with the very best of to serve builders, architects, and designers with the very best of the hearth industry, including gas and wood fireplaces, outdoor the hearth industry, including gas and wood fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, pizza ovens, grills, fire pits, and architectural stone. kitchens, pizza ovens, grills, fire pits, and architectural stone.

fairviewhearthside.com

fairviewhearthside.com WEBSITE:

845-452-8444 WEBSITE:

845-452-8444 PHONE:

PHONE: Poughkeepsie,

68 Violet Avenue ADDRESS: Poughkeepsie, 12601 68 VioletNY Avenue

A-LIST SPONSOR

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Kathleen Hay Designs @kathleenhaydesigns Kathleen Hay Designs Nantucket, MA; 508-228-1219 kathleenhaydesigns.com

Robin Carroll (Interior Designer) KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP @karpassociatesinc

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

Charles Hilton Charles Hilton Architects Greenwich; 203-489-3800 hiltonarchitects.com

Ray Forehand Christina Lake Forehand + Lake Fairfield; 203-259-7636 forehandlake.com

Forehand + Lake with Charles Hilton Architects @forehand_lakedesign @charleshiltonarchitects

BEDROOM: Transitional/Modern

Tanner White Architects @tannerwhitearchitects Tanner White Architects Westport; 203-283-4749 tannerwhitearchitects.com

Sellars Lathrop Architects @sellarslathroparchitects Sellars Lathrop Architects Westport; 203-222-0229 sellarslathrop.com

Robin Carroll (Interior Designer) KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP New Canaan; 203-972-3366 karpassociatesinc.com

KARP @karpassociatesinc

Douglas VanderHorn Architects @dvharchitects Douglas VanderHorn, Principal David Milliken, Project Manager Douglas VanderHorn Architects Greenwich; 203-622-7000 vanderhornarchitects.com

RENOVATION

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com Roughan Interiors @roughaninteriors ROMO VA NGUA RD K EL LY WE A RS T L ER Roughan Interiors Weston and New York City 203-769-1150 roughaninteriors.com

Wesley Stout Associates @wesleystoutassociates Wesley Stout Associates New Canaan; 203-966-3100 wesleystout.com LANDSCAPE: Less Than 1 Acre

Devore Associates Devore Associates Fairfield; 203-256-8950 devoreassoc.com

CEN T URY CISCO McGUIRE M A DE GOODS

SCHWART ZDE SIGNSHOWROOM.COM

A N I N T E R I O R S C O L L E C T I V E , C U R AT E D F O R T H E T R A D E

SCHWARTZ DESIGN SHOWROOM

EL I T IS ERIC K US T ER

D2 Interieurs @d2interieurs Denise Davies D2 Interieurs Weston; 646-326-7048 d2interieurs.com

Ray Forehand Christina Lake Forehand + Lake Fairfield; 203-259-7636 forehandlake.com

Charles Hilton Charles Hilton Architects Greenwich; 203-489-3800 hiltonarchitects.com

Vicente-Burin Architects @vicenteburin Paulo Vicente, Principal in Charge Vicente-Burin Architects Fairfield; 203-319-9571 vbarchitect.com

Sellars Lathrop Architects @sellarslathroparchitects Sellars Lathrop Architects Westport; 203-222-0229 sellarslathrop.com

Charles Hilton Architects with Forehand + Lake @charleshiltonarchitects @forehand_lakedesign

LIVING SPACE

Prutting + Company Custom Builders @pruttingbuilder Prutting + Company Custom Builders Stamford; 203-972-1028 prutting.com

Nautilus Architects @nautilusarchitects2019 Christopher Arelt Nautilus Architects Lyme; 860-227-1169 nautilusarchitects.com

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Rosalia Sanni Design @rosalia_sanni_design Rosalia Sanni Design Old Greenwich; 203-918-4619 rosaliasanni.com

Renée Byers Landscape Architect @reneebyers_landscape architect Renée Byers Landscape Architect Greenwich; 203-489-0800 reneebyers.com

Renée Byers Landscape Architect @reneebyers_landscape architect Renée Byers Landscape Architect Greenwich; 203-489-0800 reneebyers.com

James Doyle Design Associates @jamesdoyledesign associates James Doyle Design Associates Greenwich; 203-869-2900 jdda.com

Wesley Stout Elisa Miret-Pollino Cory Jorgensen Wesley Stout Associates New Canaan; 203-966-3100 wesleystout.com

Charles Haver Stewart Skolnick Haver & Skolnick Architects Roxbury; 860-354-1031 haverskolnickarchitects.com

Haver & Skolnick Architects with Wesley Stout Associates @haverskolnickarchitects @wesleystoutassociates

LANDSCAPE: Greater Than 1 Acre

JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT / SEPTEMBER 16 / 5:30 PM

Schwartz Design Showroom (SD Showroom) is a 5,500-square-foot Schwartz Design (SD Showroom) is a 5,500-square-foot showroom exclusive toShowroom the trade, located in the Stamford Waterside exclusive to the trade, located in the Stamford Waterside Designshowroom District. The stunning showroom offers area interior Design Theastunning showroom offers area interior designers andDistrict. architects unique experience, one that infuses designers architects a unique experience, one that infuses seventy years ofand industry experience with the forward-thinking years of experienceexecutive, with the forward-thinking visionseventy and creativity ofindustry former marketing owner Alexis vision and creativity of former marketing executive, owner Varbero.

Alexis Varbero.

Exclusive to the trade, SD Showroom helps clients build their Exclusive the provides trade, SDend-to-end Showroomexpertise helps clients their businesses.

Theto team and build support, businesses.

The team provides end-to-end expertise and from research through delivery and follow-up customer service.support, from research through delivery and follow-up customer service.

What began as a family-run furniture store seventy years ago Whatgrandfather, began as a has family-run storedestination seventy years

by Alexis’ evolvedfurniture into a design for ago by Alexis’ grandfather, has evolved into a design destination innovators across the tri-state area. Throughout its rich history, SDfor innovators across tri-state area.

Throughout its rich history, Showroom has been at the forefront of the interior design industry, has been at theservice forefront the interior design knownSD forShowroom its exceptional customer andofemphasis on the known for its exceptional customer service and emphasis designindustry, experience. on the design experience.

Alexis also understands the complexities and needs of small Alexis As also the complexities and needs of small businesses. a understands result, SD Showroom offers ongoing opportunities businesses.

As a result, SD Showroom ongoing opportunities to help foster designers’ professional growthoffers and development, with to help foster designers’events professional growth and a full calendar of networking and seminars.

And development, there is also withprogram a full calendar networking events seminars.

And there a loyalty offeringofspendable credits asand a way to further is also a loyalty program offering spendable credits as a way to build business for interior designers. further build business for interior designers.

@schwartzdesignshowroom INSTAGRAM: @schwartzdesignshowroom

schwartzdesignshowroom.com WEBSITE: schwartzdesignshowroom.com INSTAGRAM:

203-817-0433 PHONE: 203-817-0433 WEBSITE:

330 Fairfield Avenue ADDRESS: Stamford, 06901Avenue 330 CT Fairfield Stamford, CT 06901 PHONE:

Schwartz Design Showroom Schwartz Design Showroom ADDRESS:

PRESENTING SPONSOR PRESENTING SPONSOR

77 93

A-LIST FINALISTS 2020 athomefc.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

SCHWART ZDE SIGNSHOWROOM.COM

A N I N T E R I O R S C O L L E C T I V E , C U R AT E D F O R T H E T R A D E

SCHWARTZ DESIGN SHOWROOM

EL I T IS ERIC K US T ER ROMO VA NGUA RD K EL LY WE A RS T L ER CEN T URY CISCO McGUIRE M A DE GOODS

Ring’s End

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Ring’s End, a Connecticut-based lumber and building materials retailer, serves the CT shoreline, South County, RI, and Southern Westchester County, NY. Founded in 1902 in Darien, Ring’s End today End, alumberyards, Connecticut-based lumber and paint building materials has nineRing’s full-service ten free-standing centers, retailer, serves the CT shoreline, South County, RI, and Southern most with dedicated design and décor showrooms, a commercial Westchester County, NY. Founded in 1902 in Darien, Ring’s paint and lacquer facility, a custom millwork shop, a centralized End today has warehouse, nine full-service lumberyards, ten freestanding distribution and an education center.

Ring’s Endpaint is thecenters, most with dedicated andand décor showrooms, a commercial largest retailer of both Marvindesign windows doors and Benjamin paint and lacquer facility, a custom millwork shop, a centralized Moore paint in the Northeast. This family-run company remains distribution warehouse, and an education center.

Ring’s End is the true to its founding principles, catering to builders, remodelers and largest retailer of both Marvin windows and doors and Benjamin homeowners alike with an inventory of only the highest-quality Moore paint in the Northeast.

This family-run company remains materials, a reputation for superior service, and a commitment to true to its founding principles, catering to builders, remodelers the local communities. Over the course of its 118-year history, Ring’s homeowners alike with an inventory of only the highest-quality End hasand increased their product offerings and embraced technology materials, a reputation for superior service, and a commitment to with the launch of an e-commerce website to supplement its brick the local communities. the course of its 118-year history, Ring’s and mortar stores, complementOver the modern shopping experience, End has increased their product offerings and embraced technology and cater to a diverse demographic. with the launch of an e-commerce website to supplement its brick and mortar stores, complement the modern shopping experience, and cater to a diverse demographic.

RingsEnd.com

WEBSITE:

800-390-1000

PHONE:

800-390-1000 ADDRESS: 181 West Avenue WEBSITE: Darien, CT 06820 RingsEnd.com

PHONE:

181 West Avenue Darien, CT 06820

ADDRESS:

Ring’s End

PRESENTING SPONSOR

MARVIN SIGNATURE™ COLLECTION

MODERN

JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT / SEPTEMBER 16 / 5:30 PM

RingsEnd.com 800 • 390 • 1000

At Marvin, we’re driven by this purpose: to imagine and create better ways of living. As people spend more time indoors, we recognize that our work isn’t just about building better windows and doors—it’s about opening new possibilities for how people live, work, think and feel inside a Marvin space. Warm sunlight, fresh air and a connection to the natural world can instantly change the mood of a home or office. We design our products to make that connection feel seamless—even in the most challenging of spaces. We are committed to design that is as functional and intuitive as it is beautiful. Rather than meeting expectations, we push ourselves to elevate the standard for excellence. Whether we’re replicating historic millwork, engineering uninterrupted views or improving energy performance, we look for what we can do better—and then we design it. Since the day we opened our doors in 1912 as a family-owned and -operated cedar and lumber company, we’ve looked for ways to help people live better. We continue to evolve by raising the bar, building quality, beauty and simplicity into people’s everyday lives.

marvin.com

WEBSITE:

800-966-2784

PHONE:

2 Pearson Way Enfield, CT 06082

ADDRESS:

Marvin

PRESENTING SPONSOR

95

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

pgarynproductions.com (203) 722-5401

Emmy Award winning Noah Finz is a veteran TV Sports reporter and anchor. He created and manages the Vantage Sports Network from Frontier highlighting CT sports. He spent 18 years as Sports Director for WTNH-TV, Connecticut’s ABC affiliate.

NOAH FINZ

Emmy Award winning Kendra Farn is a veteran TV news reporter and anchor. She spent 13 years at WCBS-TV, and WNBC-TV in New York City, the country’s largest television market.

KENDRA FARN

Your business needs a high quality video. Still photos just don’t cut it. Nothing can sell you or your company better than video. Moving pictures and sound are far more engaging to customers and clients. Business videos can be multipurposed: to enhance your website, use for presentations, for e-newsletters, for social networking sites, and so on. Video is the way of today and is so easily accessible to everyone.

Your video produced by real journalists.

Yvonne Ferris Interiors @yvonneferrisinteriors Yvonne Ferris Interiors Westport; 203-292-8614 yvonneferrisinteriors.com

Roughan Interiors @roughaninteriors Roughan Interiors Weston and New York City 203-769-1150 roughaninteriors.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

Charles Hilton Charles Hilton Architects Greenwich; 203-489-3800 hiltonarchitects.com

Last Detail Interior Design @lastdetailinteriordesign Carey Karlan Last Detail Interior Design Darien; 203-921-5151 careykarlan.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

PLAY SPACE: KID

InnerSpace Electronics @innerspaceelectronics InnerSpace Electronics Mt. Kisco, NY; 914-937-9700 ieiny.com

Christopher Pagliaro Architects Darien; 203-838-5517 christopherpagliaro architects.com

Hemingway Fine Homes Greenwich; 203-625-0566 hemingwayconstruction.com

Hemingway Fine Homes with Christopher Pagliaro Architects @hemingwayconstruction @c.pagliaro.architects

D2 Interieurs @d2interieurs Denise Davies D2 Interieurs Weston; 646-326-7048 d2interieurs.com

Alisberg Parker Architects @alisbergparker Susan Alisberg Alisberg Parker Architects Old Greenwich 203-637-8730 alisbergparker.com

Forehand + Lake with Charles Hilton Architects @forehand_lakedesign @charleshiltonarchitects

Ray Forehand Christina Lake Forehand + Lake Fairfield; 203-259-7636 forehandlake.com

PLAY SPACE: ADULT

OFFICE/LIBRARY

D2 Interieurs @d2interieurs Denise Davies D2 Interieurs Weston; 646-326-7048 d2interieurs.com

KID/TEEN BEDROOM

William D. Earls AIA Architect @williamd.earlsaia William D. Earls AIA Architect Wilton; 203-219-7838 williamearls.com

Nautilus Architects @nautilusarchitects2019 Christopher Arelt Nautilus Architects Lyme; 860-227-1169 nautilusarchitects.com

Haver & Skolnick Architects @haverskolnickarchitects Charles Haver Stewart Skolnick Haver & Skolnick Architects Roxbury; 860-354-1031 haverskolnickarchitects.com

DeMotte Architects @demottearchitects DeMotte Architects Ridgefield; 203-431-8890 demottearchitects.com

POOL HOUSE

William Lyon Designs @williamlyondesigns William Lyon Designs Stamford; 203-489-5624 williamlyondesigns.com

Smart D2 Playrooms @smartd2playrooms Karri Bowen-Poole Denise Davies Smart D2 Playrooms Weston; 914-260-3042 smartd2playrooms.com

Mark P. Finlay Architects @mpfarchitects Jay Valade Deborah Szabo Maureen Kokorda Mark P. Finlay Architects Southport; 203-254-2388 markfinlay.com

Ray Forehand Christina Lake Forehand + Lake Fairfield; 203-259-7636 forehandlake.com

Charles Hilton Charles Hilton Architects Greenwich; 203-489-3800 hiltonarchitects.com

Charles Hilton Architects with Forehand + Lake @charleshiltonarchitects @forehand_lakedesign

TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE: Greater Than 7,000 Square Feet

Ryan Salvatore Design @ryansalvatorearchitecture Ryan Salvatore Design New York City; 212-475-0050 ryan-salvatore.com

Karen Bow Interiors @karenbowinteriors Karen Bow Interiors Darien; 914-953-1517 karenbow.com

DB Design @dianabyrnedesign Diana Byrne DB Design Rye, NY; 646-246-2617 dbdesigninc.com

JOIN OUR VIRTUAL EVENT / SEPTEMBER 16 / 5:30 PM

Sellars Lathrop Architects @sellarslathroparchitects Sellars Lathrop Architects Westport; 203-222-0229 sellarslathrop.com

Robert A. Cardello Architects @cardelloarchitects Robert A. Cardello Architects Westport; 203-853-2524 cardelloarchitects.com

Kathleen Hay Designs @kathleenhaydesigns Kathleen Hay Designs Nantucket, MA 508-221-0159 kathleenhaydesigns.com

Huestis Tucker Architects @huestistuckerarchitects Jennifer Huestis Huestis Tucker Architects Woodbridge; 203-248-1007 huestistucker.com

Browning Residential Design Margaret Browning Kufferman Browning Residential Design Westport; 203-610-1478 browningdesignct.com

TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE: Less Than 7,000 Square Feet

Robert A. Cardello Architects @cardelloarchitects Robert A. Cardello Architects Westport; 203-853-2524 cardelloarchitects.com

PRESENTING SPONSORS

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AWARD SPONSOR

GIFT BAG SPONSOR

Registration includes a suggested donation of $25, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County.

In this time of health and economic crisis, many more families are seeking help for the first time. Resources are running low and demand is greater than ever. Please consider donating and make a difference in your community.

So, sit back, pop the champagne and let’s celebrate together— you don’t want to miss this!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

Register for your full-access pass to design’s biggest night!

Whether you’re a design pro or an aficionado, prepare to be inspired!

Coming to you from Norwalk’s Wall Street Theater, we will reveal the 11th Annual A-List Awards winners at our virtual ceremony.

Celebrate with us and your local design community!

Go to athomealistawards.com to register and receive your access link to the show. Watching with a group? Each individual viewer must register to receive a $100 gift card to Serena & Lily.

Registered attendees will receive a $100 gift card to Serena & Lily

REGISTER NOW FOR FULL ACCESS: athomealistawards.com

September 16, 2020 / 5:30pm

Find out at our 11th Annual A-List Awards Virtual Ceremony

And the winner is...

the premier home design competition

awards

awards

JUDGES

the premier home design competition

BRIAN SAWYER Sawyer | Berson

MARA MILLER Carrier and Company

JESSE CARRIER Carrier and Company

BRITT ZUNINO Studio DB

DAMIAN ZUNINO Studio DB

KEITH WILLIAMS Nievera Williams

EDWARD SIEGEL Edward Siegel Architect

Need Home Design Inspo?

Tune in Sept. 16 at 5:30pm to discover the winners of the 11th Annual A-List Awards in our Virtual Ceremony register for full access:

athomealistawards.com Registered attendees will receive a $100 gift card to Serena & Lily Coming to you from Norwalk’s Wall Street Theater, we will reveal the 2020 A-List Awards winners! Be inspired by the area’s best home design projects while celebrating our local design community. Go to athomealistawards.com to register and receive your access link to the show. Watching with a group? Each viewer must register to receive a $100 gift card to Serena & Lily.

PRESENTING SPONSORS

Registration includes a suggested donation of $25, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. In this time of health and economic crisis, many more families are seeking help for the first time. Resources are running low and demand is greater than ever. Please consider donating and make a difference in your community.

AWARD SPONSOR

GIFT BAG SPONSOR

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WESTPORT

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS ADMISSIONS

advertisers index

ART & ANTIQUES Drew Klotz Kinetic Sculpture.......................................................................................................... 10 AUTOMOTIVE Jaguar Land Rover Fairfield....................................................................................................Cover 4 Scap Chrysler Jeep.........................................................................................................................29 BUILDING & HOME IMPROVEMENT California Closets.............................................................................................................................. 9 Fairview Hearthside Distributors.................................................................................................... 91 Hobbs Inc........................................................................................................................................90 Grand Entrance Gates..................................................................................................................... 35 Marvin.............................................................................................................................................95 Michael Smith Architects................................................................................................................ 13 Ring's End.......................................................................................................................................94 Robert A. Cardello Architects.......................................................................................................... 25 Tischler und Sohn...........................................................................................................................89 Tanner White Architects.................................................................................................................. 19 BUSINESS & FINANCE Cummings & Lockwood LLC............................................................................................................. 8 UBS Financial Services Inc./ The Shantz Mantione Group....................................................................................................... 27 DECORATING & HOME FURNISHINGS Schwartz Design Showroom...........................................................................................................93 EDUCATION & CHILDREN Fairfield Country Day School.......................................................................................................... 57 Greens Farms Academy.................................................................................................................. 53 Independent School Guide.............................................................................................................99 St Luke's School.............................................................................................................................. 55 Stamford Tent & Event Services.....................................................................................................45 EVENTS A-list Awards...................................................................................................................................86 Closer to Free Ride...........................................................................................................................8 Near & Far Aid Golf & Tennis Classic..............................................................................................39 Walk To End Alzheimer's................................................................................................................39 FASHION Roundabout.................................................................................................................................... 31 FOOD, CATERING & LODGING Marcia Selden Catering.................................................................................................................... 7 Winvian........................................................................................................................................... 21 HEALTH & BEAUTY Hartford HealthCare...............................................................................................................Cover 3 Hospital for Special Surgery........................................................................................................... 23 LCB Senior Living, LLC...................................................................................................................... 6 Nuvance Health................................................................................................................................ 11 Yale New Haven/Smilow Cancer Hospital.......................................................................................8 JEWELRY Henry C. Reid & Sons..................................................................................................................... 47 Lux Bond & Green.............................................................................................................. Cover 2, 1 Manfredi Jewels...............................................................................................................................3 NONPROFIT Alzheimer's Association.................................................................................................................39 Breast Cancer Alliance................................................................................................................... 14 Center for Family Justice, Inc......................................................................................................... 31 Near & Far Aid Association.............................................................................................................39 P Garyn Productions LLC...............................................................................................................95 Shepherds, Inc...............................................................................................................................59 Westport Historical Society...........................................................................................................59 REAL ESTATE LCB Senior Living, LLC...................................................................................................................... 6 William Raveis................................................................................................................................... 5 MISCELLANEOUS Westy Self Storage.......................................................................................................................... 31

ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSE & VISIT DAYS 2020-2021 Berkshire School Brunswick School The Children’s School Fairfield College Preparatory School Fairfield Country Day School Greens Farms Academy Greenwich Academy Greenwich Country Day School King School Long Ridge School The Masters School New Canaan Country School Putnam Indian Field School Rye Country Day School Sacred Heart Greenwich St. Luke’s School St. Joseph High School Stamford Board of Education Villa Maria School Whitby School Winston Preparatory School FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSES, TOURS, VISIT DAYS, AND VIRTUAL DATES PLEASE VISIT

ILOVEFC.COM/ OPENHOUSES

postscript

SEPT/OCT 2020 / DONNA MOFFLY

OF KIDS & CANDOR

From Chase: “Dear God: Thank you for giving us the beautiful trees.

It looks very nice.”

PRE-SCHOOL To Frederica McGannon at Bridges Pre-school: “Yesternight when I was going to bed…” and “Hey look, it’s winding outside”. Then from a three-year-old drinking juice boxes on a long drive: “I feel like tape. I’m sticky all over.”

From Liz Hart at Greenwich Country Day: “These are my new blue pants, do you realize them?” And when she asked daughter Lolly how her first day of nursery school went, the little girl replied: “Well, nobody laughed and nobody cried.”

During a discussion about the celebration of Passover, Phoebe Huth raised her hand.

“We celebrate Passover,” she announced. The teacher, who had known the family for years, was taken by surprise. But Phoebe explained: “When Abby’s clothes get too small for her, she passes them over to me; and when they get too small for me, I pass them over to Brecky.”

KINDERGARTEN Cristin Marandino’s six-year-old nephew Ryan got into a scuffle with another boy over the swing set on the school playground. When the teacher sat him down to find out what happened, he walked her through the events very logically, then at the main point, stopped, looked at her and said: “Okay, here’s where it doesn’t look so good for me.”

ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOL Sister Carol Ann, director of Villa Maria School in Stamford, was elated when a young man in First Communion class asked her how to spell the westportmag.com

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word “penance.” But her bubble burst when she asked him to use it used it in a sentence and he replied: “The Red Sox won the penance.”

Eight-year-old Miles Patrick McDonald, who was brought into the world through modern technology, was taking religious instruction in preparation for confirmation.

For homework the kids were asked to write a prayer to God. So he wrote: “Dear God: I don’t know who my father is, but please let him go to heaven, whoever he might be—except if he’s Donald Trump.”

An English teacher at Country Day sent our twelve-year-old Audrey home to show us a paper she’d done particularly well on.

Assignment: define words, then use them in sentences. The word “vie” she’d defined as “to worry”. Used in a sentence? “Oy vie!”

SUNDAY SCHOOL Bobbi Eggers asked the Sunday school children at Christ Church to write letters to God, and here are some excerpts: “Dear God, I think it would be a good idea to bring the dinosaurs back. Then there would be no need for ladders.” From Hunter: “God came down from Heaven and He saw my room and He said: ‘Hey. Nice room.’ ” From Brian: “Dear God: How do you think our choir is doing?” From Chase: “Dear God: Thank you for giving us the beautiful trees. It looks very nice.” And from Blake: “Dear God: What does heaven look like and I love you. I think you are old, maybe five or twenty-one.”

Bobbi also shared this year’s list of the “Top 10 Questions Kids Have About God” which includes: “How did God know He was God?” “Why should I pray if God already knows what’s going to happen?” “How can He see everybody all at the same time?” “Why did God make mosquitos?”

All food for thought. We can learn a lot from looking at the world through these fresh young eyes—and have some laughs in the process.

But while we’re at it, let’s remember to give an A+ to their teachers.

VENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY, GREENWICH, CT

I

t’s September and I get to write about kids again. But this time, in honor of our brave educators who have done such an amazing job in their virtual classrooms lately, I’m focusing on comments that our smallest fry have made to their teachers over the years. Some are new, some classics that bear repeating, but all should brighten your day.

Kids do have a way with words.

Get your back back.

Tired of back pain holding you back? A whole new way to move forward is coming this fall. Learn more at HartfordHealthCare.org /spinewellness or call 203.226.2499.

Coming to Westport this fall.

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