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Abigail Horace
Rebecca Broomfield
Abigail Horace, the creative force behind Casa Marcelo Interior Design Studio in Salisbury, has recently earned a coveted spot on Frederic Magazine’s second annual IT List, marking her as one of 12 up-and-coming designers redefining the design landscape. With a style that values functionality, spaciousness, and beauty, Horace’s work embodies a refined approach that has made her a standout in both Connecticut’s Northwest Corner and beyond.
“I didn’t know about Frederic until recently,” Horace admitted. “It’s very well done. A lot of designers I speak to say it’s their new favorite magazine, so it’s a really big honor to be in here.” Looking through the thick pages of the magazine — a lovely, lush, quietly powerful publication backed by the textile giant Schumacher— Horace reflected on her journey from Queens to Lakeville, from the constant rush of high-end design in New York City to this place, her place, which she has shaped, and which shapes her.
Horace grew up in Queens and tributes her father, a hobbyist photographer from the Dominican Republic, with much of her early inspiration. “He was only 20 when he moved to New York, so it was still so new to him.” Her father, full of enthusiasm for his new city, would take Horace with him on weekends to visit New York landmarks like The Chrysler Building, Radio City Music Hall, and the World Trade Center “which was my backyard,” said Horace. Horace also recalled a memorable trip as a child to Kew Gardens, a small, residential neighborhood in Queens. “It’s all mansions, beautiful homes with spiral staircases and gorgeous details,” Horace shared. “I remember one of our family friends was housesitting and we went to the house for something, I can’t remember what exactly, but the entry was just so grand.”
These days, grand entryways make up a large part of Horace’s diverse design portfolio, a portfolio with an attention to detail that sets her work apart. Named after her family, Casa Marcelo reflects Horace’s design philosophy: a space must not only look beautiful but should also resonate personally with those who live in it. “I like figuring out who [my clients] are,” she said. Her process involves an in-depth questionnaire that delves beyond color schemes and materials to uncover clients’ routines, travels, and cherished memories, folding these elements into each design. Horace also relies on clients’ artwork and often, on their book collections to give her tips on who they are. “There are a lot of people who are book people, that collect different types of books,” she said. “I’ll have clients who have a lot of political books, or autobiographies, or clients that have a lot of self-help books, or visual art books. So, you can really get a sense of what people like and what they like to do. I also like to know if my clients are entertainers, if they like to host or if they like to be homebodies. And I can tell a lot about people when I walk into a space.”
This personal touch has earned Horace a growing reputation through word of mouth, recently prompting Casa Marcelo to implement its first marketing strategy. Being centrally located in Salisbury (Casa Marcelo is at 7 Academy Street) has also bolstered Casa Marcelo’s visibility, attracting new clients and collaborators. Horace also sources locally whenever possible because, she said, “There are just a lot of great makers in this area.” Some of the sources she highlighted are DBO Home in Sharon, Ian Ingersoll in West Cornwall, and Elizabeth Eakins in Norwalk of whom Horace said, “she has the most amazing rugs and they’re all handmade. I love custom or handmade things and people who put love into their products.”
There’s a lot of love in Horace’s work but there’s also a lot of hard work, dedication, and an impressive amount of experience. At 37, Horace’s resume reads more like that of an industry veteran. “I don’t come from money or anything like that. Everything I have is because I’ve put my ambition into it,” Horace shared.
As she continues her ambitious work, Horace looks forward to embracing larger, ground-up renovation projects and expanding her presence within the community. She’s even co-founded a women’s business support group in Litchfield and Millerton with her friend Nina Embiricos who owns nearby Riga Yoga. “It’s an opportunity to mix everyone together, to help one another. I mean running a business up here is difficult in general so if we can help one another and promote one another, even if we’re just venting to each other, we can cross pollinate and share resources.”
Being named “a style trailblazer” by the Frederic It List may have come as a surprise to Abigail Horace but having worked for high end firms for ten years before launching her own business did more than prepare her for the demands of entrepreneurship— it sharpened her vision and deepened her sense of purpose. “I feel like I’ve always known I was going to have something bigger,” Horace shared, “but it’s kind of just starting now.”
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Lans Christensen
The living dead broke into dance at Falcon Field Thursday, Oct. 31, when South Kent School's Thriller Flash Mob returned for its annual night in the moonlight.
Magician Sandy Rhoades delighted a young Spiderman on Halloween in Falls Village.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Downtown Falls Village was chock full of trick or treaters on Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31.
Assorted superheroes, sea creatures and at least one bush rollicked around the downtown area, taking time out from collecting candy to be wowed by Sandy Rhoades doing magic tricks, drop in at the Center on Main for a refreshing glass of cider, and to chase each other around.
There was a Jurassic Park setup, a sea anemone with accompanying jellyfish, and somewhat less esoteric displays from Great Mountain Forest and Adamah Farm.
Children also plied the residential streets for candy.
Over in Lakeville, streets were blocked off and children in costume were everywhere as darkness fell.
The children knew to make their way to the Grove around 7 p.m. for hay rides, cider and doughnuts, and, most importantly, a massive, free-form shaving cream fight.
Shaving cream was flying at the town Grove Oct. 31.Patrick L. Sullivan
The Grove was abundantly adorned with Halloween props, and Stacey Dodge, Grove manager, and Lisa McAuliffe, Recreation director, awaited the shaving cream combatants.
The children brought their own shaving cream. The Grove supplied towels.
This was a good thing, as by 7:30 p.m. there wasn’t a youngster in sight who wasn’t liberally coated with the stuff.
Somehow a reporter managed to get in the middle of it and emerge unfoamed.
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The night after Halloween, the team from the Eastern Connecticut Paranormal Society regaled a receptive crowd at the Scoville Memorial Library with their experiences investigating paranormal phenomena.
Paranormal society co-founder David Bray, with investigators Ursula Wiebusch and Trish Blanchette, described the methodology and results of their investigations in considerable detail.
Bray started off with the paranormal society’s simple mission statement: “To find the truth.”
The paranormal society does not charge for investigations, and Bray said the group has turned down television offers.
The paranormal society is “about educating and validating people, as opposed to sensationalism.”
They are a hard-headed bunch. Bray recalled one person who was convinced the house was haunted because of a recurring, eerie noise in the night.
This turned out to be a tree limb.
“We cut the branch, and no more paranormal activity,” Bray said.
Bray said the team is keenly aware of investigative pitfalls, such as confirmation bias. As an example, someone with deeply held beliefs might be inclined to interpret phenomena as “demonic.”
Bray said he considers himself to be a “clairsentient medium.”
He said he doesn’t see spirits, but he can pick up on “feelings, sensations, emotions — what spirits want.”
An example: When investigating a house in Waterbury, Bray was in the kitchen when he experienced a sudden, intense pain on the left side of his head. When he went into another room, the pain was gone.
In the course of the paranormal society’s routine background investigation, the team discovered that a deceased woman who lived in the house had suffered a fatal injury in the kitchen. The injury was to the left side of her head.
Wiebusch is the group’s photographer, and Blanchette, who freely admits to having “no psychic ability,” said she conducts the initial interviews and does the background research.
Standard procedure is to “keep David in the dark,” before conducting field work, to avoid planting any suggestions in Bray’s mind.
If the paranormal society agrees to take on a client, the routine is to first find the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts.
Thus fortified, the team meets with the owner of the property and takes a tour.
With the owner not present, the team walks through and gets a baseline, using photographs and video.
They set up the equipment, take a few moments for prayer and meditation, and then they turn the lights out and wait.
Why do they do this at night? “Because that’s when we are available,” said Bray.
With video, photographs and audio clips, Bray took the audience through some of the team’s more notable investigations.
The settings varied: Private homes, bars, churches, hotels.
Asked what percentage of the subjects turn out to be something other than paranormal, Bray said about 70%.
The remaining 30% involve “responses that match the history” of a site. “These are things we can’t explain scientifically.”
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