How 6 Sisters Who Longed to Be Together Again Returned to Hometown to Transform 1863 Inn Into Wedding Venue (Exclusive)
After spending nearly 30 years scattered across the country, six sisters decided to jump into business together in their late 50s and 60s
In 2018 Prish DeVito, now 62, found herself going through significant life changes.
She’d recently sold the successful boating business she’d started with her husband and had gotten divorced after 25 years of marriage. She was suddenly flush with money, but she didn’t know what to do next. Deeply missing her five sisters, who had been living in different parts of the country for 30 years, she wondered if any of them would be interested in moving back to their hometown of LaGrange, N.Y., and starting a business.
“You can have a lot of money, and not have a lot of anything,” she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, explaining that she felt ready for a fresh start and longed to be near her siblings again. “My sisters are my everything.”
Related: Woman Reunites with 9 Long-Lost Sisters After 43 Years of Being Separated: 'I’m Home' (Exclusive)
Because each sister had her own successful career in areas like marketing, design, events planning and hospitality, Prish thought that perhaps they could open a wedding venue.
“When Prish called and asked, ‘Would you want to do this with me?’ I was immediately in,” says Cathleen Andreucci, 64, who was living in northern California and was also divorced. Dawn Costello, 61, who lived in nearby Highland, N.Y., says, “We were like, ‘Sure, let’s change our whole lives!’ ”
Sisters Karen Osborn, 66, who lives in Texas and is the only married sibling, and Jenny Federer, 57, who lives in Pennsylvania, were also game — as long as they could keep their home bases and just travel in for weddings. The only holdout? Jill Ellis, 57, Jenny’s twin who had been living in Florida and was a warm-weather woman. “I thought it would be a nightmare,” she jokes. Still, she made the move too.
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Once the plan was hatched, a space was needed. Prish and Cathleen learned that a hotel and French restaurant called Le Chambord in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. — not far from where they grew up — was on the market.
The 10-acre Georgian estate had been built in 1863 and was dated and tired, but considering they’d attended weddings and proms there in years past, the serendipitous opportunity felt meant to be. Prish immediately wrote a check, shook hands with the real estate agent and called her sisters to share the good news. “They said, ‘We bought Le Chambord! You have to quit your job tomorrow!’ ” Dawn says with a laugh.
That was in January 2019. Then reality kicked in. “It was a mess,” says Prish. “We found ourselves sitting in one of the hotel rooms, just fighting,” Cathleen says. “We were like, ‘Who’s going to do what? What’s it going to look like? What’s it going to be called?’ We were all so successful in our careers, so in our own way, we’re all confident, bossy women. When we got together to make plans, it was like, ‘Wait, you’re questioning me?’ ”
Eventually they decided on their roles. “That’s the biggest thing,” says Karen. “You stay in your lane. Once you try to get out of your lane, you get smacked back in.”
Although they had no regrets about jumping into business together, problems mounted in those early days.
They kept the inn open because “we’d inherited all these weddings from the previous owner,” says Cathleen. But the property needed a lot more work than they imagined. “We felt like we could do a lot ourselves,” Cathleen says. “We could paint a room, we could wallpaper a room. But it was disaster after disaster: water and sewage problems, electricity and tree problems. The property inspection missed a lot of it.”
They renamed the property the Curry Estate (Curry was their last name growing up). The stuffy French restaurant was remodeled into a New American venue called Restaurant Six. The downstairs speakeasy bar was renamed the SS Beverly after their late mother. The 16 guest rooms were given total overhauls.
But then a global pandemic struck in March 2020. “We had weddings booked for April!” says Dawn. “There was a lot of crying, and it was devastating.”
The sisters made the best of it. “We did everything we could to keep the staff and keep improving the place,” says Prish. They hired bands to play on the outdoor pavilion and offered to-go food. “It kept the kitchen staff working and kept us engaged in the community,” adds Cathleen. “That was really popular. People were like, ‘Oh my God, there’s something to do!’ "
By 2022 the inn had transformed into the lively welcoming destination they envisioned for the community.
Cathleen’s daughter Jackie Barker, 32, who helps run marketing, and son-in-law Darin, 35, a server, made the move from San Diego with their baby, while Dawn’s son Nick Costello, 24, who lived nearby, got on board to pitch in with bartending.
The sisters say this built-in family time has been uplifting and creates a fun-loving atmosphere that clients mention in their feedback. Often the siblings even feel like they’re part of the bride and groom’s families. “Literally last night a groom was telling Jill it was everything he dreamed of,” says Prish. “He was hugging her, calling her his new best friend.”
Of course, the sisters face the everyday headaches that come with running a business, and have plenty of family fights — but they don’t last long. “I can get so mad at one of them,” says Dawn, chuckling. “There have been times I’ve even moved my stuff out, but then there’s a wedding the next day, so I come back and everything’s fine.”
Looking around their new home base, Prish can’t believe her dream worked out so well. “I’m so proud of what we’ve done here,” she says of not only revamping the space but getting to share a laugh with her favorite people at the end of each day. “Our mom always said friends come and go, but sisters are forever. I started with my sisters. I want to end with my sisters.”
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