Joe Monello
Joe has crafted a space that’s not only a spa for the body, but is also a real threat to any night out.
Home gym? Check. Indoor hot tub? Check. Shrine to the Yankees and Giants? Check and check. And of course, there’s a pool table, shuffleboard, and tables for gaming. And a bar outside - with two more inside. He’s in the process of installing a unique indoor fire feature.
His bodybuilder wife, Claudia, gladly takes full advantage of the gym and hot tub.
And when you get tired from all the activity, there’s a separate theater. Oh, and his “candy room” - a home concession stand.
Not only that, their pool outside is absolutely insane.
Surprisingly, Joe says that his favorite room in the space is the bathroom. “I designed the whole house, including the basement, including all the colors and everything. One of the cool features in there that we were able to use was recycled boat wood I’d found. Old boats were being decommissioned, and they were being chopped up and cut into pieces. I was able to acquire the old slats from the boats. I put cool LED lighting that casts down on the boat wood. It looks really cool.”
For a man who’d been there to see Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, David Wells’ perfect game, and the 1996 World Series clincher, an appreciation for detail is almost as big of a passion as is his passion for the Yankees.
These sports memories are even bigger personal memories for him than simple milestones. They’re family treasures. He proudly got to share Jeter’s watershed moment with his own daughter, Sydney, while she attended her first big-league game. Nicky was with him at Mariano Rivera’s last game. Justin Tuck of the Giants held both Joey and Nicky when they were young. For Joe, this space is the fusion of sports and family. That home now becomes a shrine to important moments.
And what he’s built is the home equivalent of the ‘27 Yankees.