Makeover Underway at Setauket Neighborhood House

Local interior design company Samantha Drew Interiors has been chosen to give the inside of the Setauket Neighborhood House a makeover, the company recently announced on its blog. 

Michelle Mancuso, interior designer and owner of Samantha Drew Interiors, said the architecture of the house is "really fabulous" and that it's an exciting opportunity.

"It’s not a full renovation or restoration," she said. "We are painting, we are re-accessorizing, adding new window treatments – giving it just a really wonderful, fresh look."

Considerations for the history of the house as well as its location on the water are being made during the process.

"We picked a very soft palette," Mancuso said. "Kind of sea-and-sand is what we're thinking. Pale blues, sandy colors – really a very, very soft palette."

Maria Nardiello and Paul D'Amico, resident managers of the Neighborhood House, told Patch "it was about time" for a new look, since the last time it had been done was about 10 years ago. They said the Neighborhood House, which is run as a 501(c)4 organization, will undergo about $70,000 worth of updates.

"It's a lot of wear and tear, between the community groups and the private functions," D'Amico said.

Groups and events are temporarily suspended while the update takes place. Some members of those groups actually provided some feedback for the needs within the house, such as more lighting in certain areas. Among those updates are energy efficient fixtures to help reduce costs.

But at least one item will remain the same: the chandelier in the ballroom, to which the resident managers said they had become attached. "It feels good to still have it here," Nardiello said.

The final look will be publicly unveiled at an April 12 fundraiser, "A Taste of the Neighborhood."

According to a history published on its website, the original part of the Setauket Neighborhood House was built in the 1700s, and the house was moved to its current location in 1820. The house was expanded in 1835 and it became an inn, known as "Ye Old Elderkin Inn" and later as "The Lakeside House." It has served as a community meeting place since 1918 when the Old Field industrialist Eversley Childs purchased the property and deeded it to the community as stewarded by the Setauket Neighborhood House board of directors.