Date: Fri 29-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Bermingham-Sherry-DeLeon

Full Text:

(antiques dealer Sherry DeLeon & husband, construction man John Bermingham,

11/22/96)

Main Street Couple Prepares For The Holiday Festival

(with photos)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Sherry DeLeon and her husband, John Bermingham, moved to Newtown two years ago

because they fell in love with the 1822 Federal/Greek Revival house at 42 Main

Street, next door to the Newtown Historical Society's Matthew Curtiss House.

So it was only logical that Sherry, an antiques dealer, and John, a building

contractor who specializes in restorations, would become involved with the

annual Holiday Festival. Sherry, whose business is named E.A. Hutchison in

honor of her grandfather, will be among the 24 antiques dealers participating

in the 11th annual festival which will be held on Sunday, December 8, to

benefit the Family Life Center.

John Bermingham is helping to coordinate the restoration work being done at

the Trinity Church rectory, at 64 Main Street, one of the houses on this

year's tour.

The Berminghams' house, where they live with their four-year old son, Hutch,

is filled with pieces from Ms DeLeon's collections. Although she specializes

in equestrian jewelry and accessories, sterling trophies and other "smalls"

(small pieces), she occasionally handles furniture, like the wing chair

recently recovered in a yellow floral print that sits in a sunny spot in the

living room.

"I liked it so much, I decided to keep it," she said, laughing. "I'm doing the

room around it."

Sherry DeLeon grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where her grandfather

raised livestock.

"He basically traded in horses and cows, but also raised pigs and chickens

because the farm was nearly self-sufficient," Ms DeLeon said. "I spent a lot

of time there while I was growing up. That's where my interest in horses

began. I rode three or four times a week, even while I lived in New York,

until Hutch was born."

She got a degree in art history from Randolph Macon Women's College in

Randolph, Va., and went to work as a cataloger for the Museum of Modern Art in

New York City. "I ended up with a contract to write a book on basketry," she

said, "then I did a lot of freelance design work, mostly involving fabrics."

When she started designing and selling jewelry, she worked on and off for

several years for Geoffrey Bean, designing pieces for his couture collection

and fashion shows. From that, she started doing work for the garment industry

- knits, fabric and manufacturing sourcing, fashion forecasting, color

matching - while she attended classes at New York University to earn a

certificate in appraisals studies.

"I was buying and selling a lot of antique pieces, mostly jewelry, and focused

on equestrian items because I knew a lot about it. I've always been a rider,"

she said. "Even before I got my certificate in appraisals studies around 1990,

I was already doing shows full time. I deal in what I call the English country

squire look."

The jewelry, predominately gold and sterling with some platinum and enameled

pieces, feature design elements like horseshoes and riding crops. There are

brooches and pins, cufflinks, Georgian sterling silver spurs to fit a child or

small woman, and many other accessories.

John Bermingham grew up in a small country town in northern New Jersey, the

son of a talented watercolorist, attended Arizona State, then got a degree in

photography from the Pratt Institute of Art in New York City. He gradually

became involved with construction renovation projects in the city and it

became a full-time business.

Married ten years ago, the Berminghams were happy with their apartment and

office/studio in the city until Hutch was born in 1992.

"His birth sort of made our apartment seem smaller," Sherry said. "Anyway, it

didn't have a backyard."

They began looking for a house in Connecticut and soon happened upon Main

Street in Newtown.

"We saw this house and liked it - it has a lot of potential," John Bermingham

said.

The wood-frame clapboard house was built in 1822; Victorian renovations, such

as the bracketed front porch, were added in the 1860s. A lot of mediocre

renovations were done inside over the years, so the house will not be on the

tour until Mr Bermingham is able to complete the restoration.

The neighborhood is great, however, and so is the location, almost adjacent to

the flagpole. "I call [the intersection at the flagpole] the world's smallest

traffic circle," Mr Bermingham said.

Although the painting of the Trinity Rectory will not be completed until

spring, Mr Bermingham said replacement of the top and bottom window sashes is

scheduled for the next two weeks and should be completed in time for the

holiday festival.

Besides the rectory, the house tour will feature the Hertberg residence at 64

Main Street, the Fuller residence at 5 School House Hill Road, and the

Fulkerson residence at 8 Currituck Road. The Festival Trees will be held at

the Gaston residence, 18 Main Street.