This summer, style maven Martha Stewart did a photoshoot at Patty’s Portico in Port Chester for her blog, TheMarthaBlog.com.
We could have told Stewart that Patty’s Portico, an offshoot from the former DeFelice & Daughter body shop in Greenwich, would be “a good thing.”
Patty DeFelice learned about auto body work after helping her father Louis who founded his body shop in 1932. Though she never intended to make it her career, she stayed 30 years.
Along the way, a customer had a unique request, asking her to use automotive paint on a patio set.
From there, DeFelice worked to perfect her restoration technique.
In addition to restoring metal patio furniture, she breathes new life into cast iron radiators, fireplace sets, and vintage motel chairs. In fact the process can be used on different surfaces, including metal, concrete and steel. The sky’s the limit. Patty’s Portico also restraps, re-slings, welds and replaces glides and glass tops.
In her blog, style maven Martha Stewart, said she enjoys browsing antiques shops and tag sales, looking for treasures.
She said the feature had its origins in a trip to a neighborhood estate sale in January she happened upon a vintage outdoor patio set that had been painted black. She saw potential.
She headed to Patty’s Portico where DeFelice’s team stripped the furniture down to the metal to remove all paint and rust before priming and finishing with her signature powder coat of paint.
The powder coating is applied as dry powder through an electrostatic process, before being cured with heat in a 10 ft deep oven.
While Stewart opted for own signature color, “Bedford Gray,” named after her farm in Bedford, NY, DeFelice’s customers can pick from a wide variety of colors.
In addition to the outdoor furniture, Stewart discovered at the tag sale, she also bought a pair of old metal baker’s table bases she would have DeFelice put through the same process.
Patty’s Portico is located at 140 Highland Street in Port Chester.
Tel 914-935-8839 or 914-937-1907