The Curry girls: Karen Cathleen, Patricia (Prish), Dawn, Jennifer (Jenny) and Jill.
After 30 years of being spread across the country, when we found the property that is now Curry Estate, we felt like we were being brought back home to the Hudson Valley where “The Curry Girls” were raised. This was the incredible opportunity and the right time to use all our life and career experiences to create something extraordinary. For our family, hospitality is a core value, and we know when the sisters bring our passion and energy there is a synergy that creates a result that is exponentially better than what we could have accomplished alone.
You would have to know us to understand just how we were so willing to change our lives and take on this major undertaking at this stage of our lives.
We have an incredible bond of sisterhood and family; a powerful force that we all feel. Through life’s challenges, we have each other’s back and love each other. When we need support, a boost or to celebrate, the sisters show up. We walk through life knowing this and it is so essential to who we are.
We are women. We care, we support, we work exceptionally hard, we nurture, we listen, we play fair, we balance, and we want everyone to win, be happy and have success.
We are physically, mentally & emotionally strong, too stubborn to give up, light-hearted and able to laugh at ourselves.
And, most astoundingly, we believe in ourselves. If we think it is right, we dive in full throttle because regardless of the challenge or reality, we actually believe we CAN do it. Thanks to the example of our parents Dick & Bev, their high energy, stubbornness, and hard-work DNA, we always get it done. And done well.
From children’s birthdays to extravagant milestone adult extravaganzas, we appreciated the well-planned party and how it honored the guest of honor and built memories. From the perfect holiday meal cookbook to opening a restaurant we loved how food created family and community. From designing a room to restoring a historical home we love a beautiful surrounding and the security home creates. And, every holiday, every one of us wove the Curry family traditions through our own homes and shared them with friends, neighborhoods, churches, & workplaces. We were living in Florida, Texas, California, Pennsylvania and New York and missing one another and frequently imagining the possibility and power of the sisters bringing each of our gifts to one project.
And then Prish decided to make it happen. One on one she planted the seeds. Who would be ready to start a new phase of their life? She had the vision – all of us back home together. A homebase not just for us but for our children and grandchildren to get to feel as connected as the sisters were. Rather than leave each of us something in her will, Prish wanted to gift it now so we could all see it grow into a legacy for our children.
When a series of coincidences brought us to this property, we remembered it as a premier wedding venue, restaurant, and Inn in its heyday. We saw the property that needed a complete renovation as the opportunity for us to use our talents, hard work and connections to transform it into the spectacular estate property it is now. We saw the weddings we would hold in the ballroom and the families that would create their special memories celebrating at the holiday events. Guests that would check into the Inn and feel like family welcomed into our mom’s bed and breakfast. The parties and showers we created for our own families could now be shared with the community. Old friends and new friends in the cozy downstairs bar enjoying the local entertainment. A restaurant transformed for today’s Hudson Valley food enthusiasts. For each sister in a different way, we saw the dream.
Karen, who is living in Texas, is the plan maker. Relying on her marketing, small-business startups, restaurants, and real estate experience she is the one to work the plan.
Cathleen, who came in from California, is the reach for the stars goal setter with large-scale corporate and recreation experience who was already wondering how long it would take before we could build a biergarten in the back of the property.
Prish, who moved back from Florida, brings the heart. A connector, full of compassion who always cares first about the people one-on-one.
Dawn, the one who stayed in the area, is our incredibly talented designer, and consultant with an amazing attention to detail and work ethic. She brings the flair and was excited for the challenge of restoring the 1860’s Georgian Colonial to its glory.
Jenny who lives in Pennsylvania and travels up often, is an accomplished nurse and has owned a restaurant. Jen brings the wow. She’s extremely generous and more is always better.
Jill, also back from Florida, is so light-hearted and cheerful with a great sense of humor. Everyone loves our Jilly, and she brings her GM restaurant experience, both front and back of the house.
We sure didn’t do it alone. Dawn, Jen & Prish, in particular had great connections and friends that stepped up to help with the major renovations. The town of Hopewell Junction, the Chamber, Dutchess Tourism, and the community were incredibly supportive, all the staff stayed on through transition and we certainly learned along the way. Like every other business, we struggled during the mandatory pandemic shutdown, but looked for creative ways to keep going. One of our favorites was hiring local bands to play in the parking lot marked off in dedicated spots with guests tailgating, dancing, and enjoying our elegant restaurant dinners delivered to them in their own section.
In 2019, we made the commitment, and we are following through. The property has been renovated and is spectacular. We are a premier wedding venue with incredible reviews and we also host fantastic parties to celebrate all of the milestones in our lives; showers, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversaries, to name a few. Wednesday nights we celebrate the ladies in the SS Beverly with fun weekly Ladies night including psychics, paint and sips, bunco, etc.! We will soon have 450 people coming for Mother’s Day brunch. Our guests are thrilled with their events and our business is growing beautifully.
What started as a dream and a generous gift from Prish is being realized in our remarkable Curry Estate and Restaurant Six. We hoped that the sisters would use our gifts to transform this gift into a legacy for generations to come. We are so proud that already several of our children are now involved in the business. Dawn’s son Nick is our lead bartender and is beloved at every wedding! Cathleen’s daughters are both involved. Jackie and her husband Darin moved here from California with their daughter Beverly to be part of the business. Jackie is our marketing director; Darin works as a server in our restaurant and Bevy is training to be future CEO! Heather, still in California, answers all our emails, and is implementing a new event software for the business. The positive feedback from our guests encourages us for the future.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our dream along the way, and we are so excited to see what the future holds here at Curry Estate!
The Curry Girls,
Karen, Cath, Prish, Dawn, Jenny, and Jilly
