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Patty Tomasetti wanted to go back to school but wasnt sure how her husband would react. I wanted to do interior design, she says. She worried about the pressure of working on school design projects with an expert looking over her shoulder. Rick Tomasetti, her husband, is an architect. She enrolled at Fairfield Universitys interior design program, under Rob Hardy, ASID, and Rick was amazed. Its an amazing program, he says. And because it was so good, Patty is now a key player in Tomasetti Architects, a full-service architecture and interior design firm.
Rick Tomasetti says hes an architect because its in his DNA. I come from a long line of engineers and general contractors, he says, starting with his great-grandfather who came to the U.S. from Italy in the late 1800s. My grandfather worked on the New York City water mains and on all the underground utilities at the Worlds Fair in Queens, he says.
The family moved to the country (thats what they called Connecticut in those days) and Ricks father started building homes. They couldnt afford Norwalk so they moved to Wilton, Rick says, Im a native Wiltonian.
Rick grew up helping his dad on construction sites after school and on weekends. There are still many houses in town that my dad built, he says. In high school he got his first job with a local architect. I used to make the blueprints, he says. Then I was promoted to designing cupolas and extra garage bays. Now he designs custom homes and prides himself on the exquisite detail of his construction plans. My builders rarely have to ask how anything should be built, he says. Their questions are all answered in the drawings.
Having an interior designer on staff is a big plus for Ricks clients. Patty gets involved right at the start of a project. We do a furniture layout early in the design phase, she says, and that helps clients visualize how furniture will fit in their rooms. Clients love that we can help them with the whole design process, Rick says.
Do you know any husband and wife team that works together? Let me know. fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us
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