CLOSER TO HOME
The Dancing With the Stars vet enjoys the comforts of his New England abode
Dancing With the Stars veteran Tony Dovolani takes Closer through his classy Connecticut abode.
In 1989, Tony Dovolani’s family fulfilled their dream of emigrating from war-torn Kosovo to tranquil Connecticut. “I’ve had 36 family members who were killed, so coming to this country as a refugee saved my life,” Tony, 44, shares with Closer. “My dad picked Fairfield County because he thought it was similar to Kosovo’s weather and environment. People were smiling, welcoming and made me feel like I was home.” From age 15 (when Tony washed dishes 70 hours a week to support his family) through his start in ballroom dancing (his dad taught him the tango) and his 2006–’16 Dancing With the Stars run, he rarely left the area. “Fairfield is one of the best opportunities to give your kids as
normal a life as possible,” he says. He also founded the charity Tony Dovolani Golf for Special Needs Children to support children with autism, like his own son. “I want to give other kids the opportunity to get [the help] Adrian gets,” he shares.
In 2014, Tony, his wife of 18 years, Lina, daughter Luana, 12, and twins Adrian and Ariana, 9, found the house of their dreams in the area they loved: a four-bedroom, threeand-a half bath home on a stunning 2.6 acres. “Having over an acre of land in front is what sold me,” he says. “I have a place for a trampoline and swing set so the kids can play.”
There’s also plenty of room for them to play inside the 3,600-square-foot abode, which Tony says is just the right size for his family.
“If you need an intercom to see if your kids are there, that’s the wrong home,” he says, adding that the kids’ bedrooms are situated so “they have to go by ours to get outside.”
Lina’s love of feng shui inspired a fourmonth remodel of the 19-year-old home:
She removed pillars in the kitchen, redid two bathrooms, raised the master bedroom
ceiling by four feet (to make it less “dungeonlike”), installed eco-friendly lighting, renovated the fireplace and built an outdoor barbecue. “Our goal was to make any changes match the house and look like they were always there,” Tony says.
Lina also handled the decorating. “I asked, ‘Honey, where are these thoughts coming from?’ Her mind is extremely symmetrical, and if a color catches your eye, it’s there on purpose,” he says. The family room gets the most use (thanks to the TV and woodburning fireplace) and features soothing beiges, yellows and blues to “make you feel comfortable.” Its tree-stump coffee tables are an inside joke. “When we moved in, my wife kept saying, ‘You brought me to the woods!’ ” he says. ‘I said, ‘No, this is still town! Everything’s five minutes away.’ Then we saw wild turkeys! Of course, I lost that argument.”
But Tony has no regrets about his new home. “You have the beauty of nature, clean air, beautiful school systems and New York is a skip-hop away,” he shares. “It seemed like the right place to be.” — Reporting by Ilyssa Panitz
“My family gives America as much energy and hard work as we can, because we’re grateful to be here.”
— Tony with, from left, Luana, Ariana, Adrian & Lina