Mary Johnson Photo
It was Stony Creek’s wedding of the decade as Christine Svenningsen, who owns ten of the Thimble Islands, married John G. Chiarella, Jr., a landscaping entrepreneur who manages them, in an elegant ceremony.
Under sunny skies, Svenningsen, 52, and Chiarella, 57 (pictured after the ceremony), took their vows late Saturday afternoon on Rogers Island, a 7.75-acre hideaway with a 27-room Tudor-style mansion built in 1902, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a golf course and elaborate formal gardens.
Svenningsen shocked the village of Stony Creek and the town of Branford when she paid $22.3 million for Rogers Island in 2003. She now owns 10 of the two-dozen inhabitable Thimble Islands. In the last seven years, Svenningsen has become one of the top three taxpayers in Branford and is also a top employer. She is rarely seen in public; her closely-held plans for the islands have become the subject of recurrent speculation in the town.
Mary Johnson Photo
Wedding party.
The three-day wedding festivities began Friday on West Crib Island, her first home in the islands. It moved to the Rogers Island wedding site on Saturday and then to Wheeler’s Island for Sunday brunch, a source said. Hundreds of wedding guests were transported to the Stony Creek dock in small buses and then by private boat to the festivities. The couple was said to be on their honeymoon and unavailable for comment.
The marriage may mark the dawn of a new Stony Creek dynasty, bringing together a top landowner and a top contractor who have been reshaping the area’s storied archipelago.
In April Chiarella signed off as the owner/agent for the Cut-in-Two East Island LLC in the proposed renovation of a house on the island. Svenningsen purchased the island in 2003 for $3.4 million.
P.T. Barnum circus star General Tom Thumb spent his summers in the house that is soon scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt on the same footprint. The architects for the new house told the Zoning Board of Appeals in May that they plan to preserve a wall and ceiling in the home that are papered with old and priceless circus posters. Several residents asked that the art work be preserved, and Svenningsen agreed.
Chiarella started his company, Ultimate Services, Inc., in 1971 while still in high school. He began with just one employee, a push lawn mower and a handful of clients, his website says. Now his staff numbers 100 and is located in Greenwich, Westport and Wolcott, the company headquarters.
With the help of Chiarella’s company, Svenningsen has transformed her islands, conducting major renovations on the houses and grounds, employing contractors, landscapers and a host of other workers who daily boat to her islands from Stony Creek. Her family flag along with Palm trees adorn the islands. On the mainland she has purchased several houses, two of which stand empty, and a studio with five bays.
Mary Johnson Photo
The bride.
In her only known interview, Svenningsen, an artist, told the Associated Press in 2006 that there “is no master plan for my islands. They’re like little pieces of art. I get to put my brush to them.” Some residents are concerned about her plans for the future. A number of the houses on her islands, though beautifully renovated, remain empty.
From 2003 to 2007 Svenningsen went on an island-buying spree, hiring Chiariella’s company to oversee the landscaping, land restoration and ground management. She spent more than $30 million for nine islands, excluding the costs for major renovations.
Her first husband, John Svenningsen, died in 1997 at age 66. He went from running his business out of a garage in 1960 to becoming chairman and CEO of Amscan in Elmsford, N.Y., one of the world’s largest suppliers of party goods, including hats, paper plates and balloons.
The Svenningsens first came to Stony Creek when they purchased West Crib Island in 1976 for $121,500. Mrs. Svenningsen purchased Wheeler Island in 1998 for $520,000.
In 2003, along with Rogers Island, Svenningsen also purchased Phelps Island for $1 million, Jepson for $1.4 million and Cut in Two East for $3.4 million. In 2004 she purchased Reel Island for $100,000. In 2005 she purchased Cut in Two West for $2.4 million and in 2007 East Crib for $3.15 million.
Svenningsen lives in Westchester County. She and her family spend time on some of her islands during summer months.
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