b'A Brothers Recommendation Comes ThroughD I N G H OWorking with Dennis Hepworth N MIBY ELLEN DONKER F EK ristaSantucciandhave something that weve invested in CoreyGallitellifor ourselves and for our family. knewthatwhenTheirsons,JohnandBrody,have theywerereadytomade an easy transition to a new school buyahome,theysystem and they even got a dog: a rescue wouldcallDennispuppy they named Ivy, which is only HepworthofKellerfitting since Gallitelli is a landscaper.Williams Mid-Town Direct in Maple- Whilethecouplerecommend wood. Santucci says, My brother RyanHepworth wholeheartedly, Gallitelli, a had worked with him and just ravedYankees fan, has one reservation. He about Dennis, and you know, Dennissays, One thing about Dennis thats not only helped my brother find hisKrista Santucci and Corey Gallitellli with sons John andnot so good: Hes a Boston fan. The home, but also helped him move in. Brody are enjoying home ownership in Cedar Grove. whole process [he was] always saying In March 2021, Santucci and Gal- something to me about his Red Sox litelli made the call. After renting into see, Santucci says, He would reachSoonthecouplefoundanotherorhisPatriots.Infact,duringthe New Providence for a few years, theyout directly to the agent immediatelyplace, this time in Cedar Grove. Sincetime when everyone was still wearing wanted a home that would offer moreto figure out if there was a way that hetheopenhousewasjustdaysaway,masks, Hepworth made a bet that if spacefortheirboys,ages8and12.could get us in early. If there was noHepworth called the listing agent sothefamilygotthehouse,Gallitelli The only thing that gave them pauseway to get us in early, he blocked outthey could see it beforehand. Santucciwould have to wear a Red Sox mask. was the market. Not only were pricesthe entire day, mapped out the area soquickly noticed that the house was onIf they lost it, Hepworth would wear a reaching new highs with homes get- that we were making the most of whenJohn Street. John happens to be theYankees mask. ting multiple offers, but interest ratesweweregoingtoopenhouses.Hename of her oldest son, and his father,In the end, Hepworth smoothed it werebeginningtoclimb.Neverthe- called ahead for everything. whopassedawaytragicallyin2018.over by giving them original paintings less, the couple moved ahead. ThecouplelovedHepworthsre- She says, I was like, this is a sign depicting Gallitellis Yankees and San-Sincetheywantedtobeequidis- sponsivenessandattentiontodetail.and so even being able to get into thetuccis Eagles. tant from their respective workplaces,Santucci says, You never hung up thehouse and meet the owner and come they defined suburban Essex Countyphone with him and felt like, Im nottofindoutherhusbandhadpassed as their target. Their wish list includ- really sure whats going on. He madeaway, as wellit was just like, we have ed a somewhat move-in ready homeyou feel so comfortable, walked youthis connection. with three bedrooms, two baths andthrough every detail, [and] asked theThe couple submitted an offer. It enough space for a home office in aquestions to make sure that we under- was accepted and with that, the open family-friendlyneighborhoodwithstood what was going on. house was cancelled.little traffic. And the town should haveThe first house they placed a bid onItsbeenayearsincethefamily great schools. was in Fairfield. When a home inspec- movedintotheirhomeandtheyre Hepworthquicklygottowork.tion revealed significant structural is- still in love with it. Santucci says, It Santuccisays,Thegreatthingwas,sues, the couple asked Hepworth foris picture perfect. Its not a lot of traf-he was constantly sending us listings ifguidance. Santucci says, Had it notfic. Theres kids riding their bikes, kids something came up within our targetbeen for Dennis, we very well couldshootinghoops,youknow,lotsof area. And it wasnt just an email; wehaveendedupbuyingthathouse.young families in the area. Everybody would get a text or a phone call saying,Sheadds,Hewasjustlike,Youwalkstheirdog.Imean,youreally Hey, Im about to send you these list- know what, if you guys were my kids,couldnt ask for anything. Its exactly ings. Let me know what you think. I would tell you not to go with thiswhatwewantedtoraiseourfamilyDennis Hepworth helped the Santucci/Once the couple chose the homeshouse. Thats my advice.in. Best of all, Santucci says, Now weGallitelli family find their first home.38/ matters magazine / holiday 2022'