Ali Barone
- Magazine: ModernDog
- Issue: Summer 2005
When you talk to television’s multi-talented designer-carpenter Ali Barone, there’s one word that springs to mind: warmth. It’s there in everything. It’s in her voice. It’s in her laughter. It’s in her optimism. (This woman’s glass is more than half full. It spilleth over.) And it’s especially evident when she talks about her rescued canine pal, Petunia.
A year before millions of viewers would come to love her as the affable, stereotype-busting handyperson on the hit home makeover series While You Were Out, Ali was enjoying a late-summer weekend drive in the Hamptons with her then-fiancé, now-husband, New York City firefighter Chris. Though they had previously discussed adopting a four-legged friend, on that particular day nothing was concrete.
Things would soon change. When Ali spotted the South Hampton Animal Shelter, they made an unplanned “quick left.” When Ali spotted Petunia, they made an unplanned quick connection. “Petunia completed the picture. It was like we were starting a family.”
The name “Petunia” conjures images of a delicate lapdog, but Ali quickly erases any illusions. Apparently, the 46-pound, 13-year-old Bulldog is “the prettiest ugly dog in the world, with gnarled teeth from a lifetime of chewing rocks.” And getting to know this older beauty has been a series of unexpected treats. Once at a beach, Ali and Chris were shocked when the usually mellow Petunia took off running toward the shore and dove in. “It was like she was coming home. Clearly she grew up near water. It was a very moving moment.” Tapping in to this part of her past—one Petunia shared at the time by dragging them behind her leash like a competitor in a tractor pull—they now take her to the beach whenever they can.
Ali isn’t just a cheerleader for adopting shelter dogs, she’s captain of the squad. At various times when our conversation turned to Petunia’s quirks—like her pseudo-ferocious “grrrs” when tugging her pull-toy—she’d bring us back to the seriousness of the matter. “I impress upon people to visit their local shelters. Even if the breed they think they want isn’t there, chances are they’ll fall in love with a dog anyway.” (And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?)
When asked if she feels her life is blessed, she sheds some light on what makes Ali Ali. Profoundly influenced by both grandmothers, she has always believed the sky’s the limit, just so long as she stays true to “her path.” Each grandmother, one a former vaudeville pianist and the other a self-made business woman and artist, instilled in her the confidence to nurture her own talents. Once a pre-med student, Ali jokes that every parent dreads the words, “Mom and dad, I want to be an Arts major.” But changing her major was a hint of many “quick lefts” to come. For Ali, it’s always about following that path.
Ali and Chris recently purchased a home outside the city, close to lakes, which they know their part-Bulldog-part-fish will appreciate. And like any good handymom, Ali is drafting plans to turn the deck into Petunia’s very own luxury retirement home. She laughs that the best way to ensure it gets done might be to follow the same two-day, high-speed turnaround they do on the show—while Petunia is, of course, out.
Perhaps it’s irony, or maybe just another example of what life on Ali’s path looks like, that the woman famous for transforming people’s lives while they’re out experienced a “life makeover” herself on a weekend while she was out. The friend she had been looking for was sitting locked in a shelter waiting for her to make a quick left. Now Ali urges us all to consider making our own.