Richmond, Va. —
A famous house in Richmond, owned by a New York hairstylist who fashions the tresses of famous people like Madonna, is on the market.
The Spanish-style white stucco house of Garren DeFazio and his partner, Thom Priano, is listed for $1.3 million.
“The house is fabulous … it is definitely not Richmond,” said his agent, Lucy B. Williams with Select Properties of Virginia, referring to the preponderance of Colonial-style houses in the area.
According to a biographical piece on the celebrity hairstylist in Vogue magazine, “When not developing his signature product line, contributing to Allure, or working backstage at runway shows, he escapes to his country place in Virginia with his partner and fellow hair expert, Thom Priano.”
That country place in Virginia is in the Byrd Park area on Westover Road. It’s a 4,644-square-foot, two-story house with a red tile roof built in 1934 as a bachelor pad for Webster Rhoads of Miller Rhoads department store fame.
Williams said the house has been listed less than a week and she has five showings today.
She said DeFazio and Priano are selling the house because they have had trouble scheduling flights ever since JetBlue Airways canceled its service from Richmond to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in November 2010. The discount carrier said not enough high-paying business passengers were using the service.
Besides, they own a place in Florida, Williams said. They have lived in Richmond about 18 years.
DeFazio is president of Garren New York salon on Fifth Avenue. The master coiffeur was recognized by Vogue as “The Model’s Choice” in 1997.
“He earned his stripes styling model-of-the-disco-moment Jerry Hall, then Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista,” according to Vogue.
He also gleaned that Madonna could achieve better stardom as a blonde than a brunette, and that fashion designer Victoria Beckham could pull off a pixie haircut that sparked a global trend, Vogue said.
Other clients have included Audrey Hepburn, Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett, according to Boomer magazine.
Williams also offered this tidbit: DeFazio and Priano refuse to cut hair in Richmond because they want the local stylists to get business.
“If you want them to do your hair, you have to go to New York,” she said.
And the cost? “In 2011, a haircut with Garren cost more than $700,” Vogue reports.