Greenwich businesswoman finds new calling in restoration

Patty DeFelice was a mainstay of Greenwich business and female pacesetter in the testosterone-charged auto world since stepping in to assist her father after he suffered a heart attack in 1976. His West Putnam Avenue auto body shop opened in 1932 and eventually became Louis DeFelice & Daughter Auto Body Shop Inc.

Patty DeFelice in her new Westchester County shop.

Now, she has leased the space to her neighbor, Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich, and crossed the border to begin a semirelated business venture: sandblasting, painting and baking outdoor metal furniture.

DeFelice found the calling after a former auto body customer and friend asked her about refurbishing his furniture. She did her research and discovered powder coating, a process that restores outdoor furniture, oftentimes saving classics that cannot be replicated today. Items are sandblasted followed by application of a powdery polyester material available in the pigments of the rainbow. Each item is baked at 400 degrees in DeFelice”™s walk-in oven or kiln and comes out cured for a new life.

“Short-term help in a family crisis became 33 years as a successful business owner, entrepreneur and role model for women pursuing careers, particularly those once deemed for men only,” her company said in a statement.

Her January startup metal furniture restoration and sales business is called Patty”™s Portico, at 140 Highland St., Port Chester. Her employees include Victor Molina, a specialist in restoring weaving in certain pieces, and Alex Yupit, who coordinates the powder application and baking process.