How did a kid from Big Flats end up in a bidding war at Sotheby’s London with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Rod Stewart?

Here’s how.

Todd Yoggy by profession is an interior designer. He has lived on both coasts and in Florida, in historic mansions and in a sleek city apartment. He has toured markets and museums all across the US and Europe, gleaning inspiration and shopping for rare antiques. He has mingled with some big names, both in society—the Material Girl (Madonna) and Lady Marmalade (Patti Labelle), among others—and in the design world—Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi...and of course, Elmira’s own Tommy Hilfiger. Not bad for a kid from the Horseheads High School class of 1982.

Todd’s local roots run deep; his paternal grandparents were from Wellsboro, and that’s where his mom and dad, Roberta and Gary, met. Wellsboro, with its leafy streets and quaint gaslights, remains one of Todd’s all-time favorite places. “I like to bring guests to Wellsboro if I get a chance,” he says. “It’s such an ideal little town.” The Yoggys (the surname is Swiss) raised Todd and his sisters, Beth and Kristin, in Mapleshade Acres, a small development just west of the Elmira Corning Regional Airport. Though Big Flats is hardly the Bright Lights, it was a good place to grow up, and it still is today.

Todd credits his parents for his love of history, his flair for presentation, his people skills, and his appreciation for fine craft. Gary was a professor of history at Corning Community College who also wrote two books on Hollywood westerns and acted in area theater. Many locals still remember his Golden Age of Radio shows, live re-creations of favorites like The Lone Ranger, Fibber McGee, and The Shadow. And to many, he was the voice of Christmas.

“Gary’s all-day Christmas radio broadcasts were a holiday tradition,” recalls Frank Acomb, now a broadcaster for WYDC. “For a lot of us growing up then, he really was Santa.”

Roberta gave Todd a love for curated spaces and quality materials. She worked at various times at three local curio shops—her own Robin’s Nest boutique, the Christmas Shop at the mall, and Big Flats’ antique emporium, Oldies But Goodies, which is still there on Route 352.

Todd went to local schools. He played trumpet in the band and performed in plays and musicals. He had the life of an ordinary kid, and still loves Eldridge Park, the Pioneers baseball team, and King Kone. By the time he realized he had an innate skill as an interior designer, he had taken a handful of college courses but knew that the craft was best learned hands-on. So he left home to seek his fame and fortune. And found it in Richmond, Vero Beach, Gem Island, San Francisco Bay, Montana’s ski country, and the City of Angels. Those are just a few of his project sites.

How Does This Work?

So, what does an interior designer do? It’s complicated. Very complicated. There’s consultation. Research. Budgeting. Site analysis. Codes and red tape (there’s always lots of red tape). Durability, accessibility, sustainability. Measurement (lots of measurement). Brainstorming and concept development. Mood boards. Materials. Timelines. Mock-ups. Furniture. Site visits. Shopping (the fun part). Pet-proofing (dogs and cats are easy; small kids, not so much). The unveiling. Finally, post-project evaluation. And all of this technical expertise must go with first-rate personal communication skills.

Todd credits a lot of his success to invaluable advice from friends and mentors. One is Garren (who goes by one name), who grew up working-class in Niagara Falls, New York, but through vision and talent became hairstylist to people like Farrah Fawcett (for her Andy Warhol portrait), Brooke Shields (for her Calvin Klein ads), and Audrey Hepburn and Madonna (for their Vanity Fair covers). Through Garren, Todd was able to network with a fascinating group of people who saw his lookbook, or portfolio, and liked his ideas.

“One person introduces you to another,” says Todd, “and that’s how you build a career, one relationship at a time.”

Another longtime mentor is Corning native AJ Fratarcangelo, also a hairstylist, who has built a satisfying and successful career in Corning. He’s also known for his charity work.

“One of the best things I learned from AJ is the importance of giving back to the community,” says Todd. “The starting point is being interested in other people and what they have to say. If you can establish and maintain relationships, it will open doors you never knew were there. Even a small thing like sending a holiday card. Everybody can appreciate a simple gesture, regardless of their degree of success.”

A major break that helped start Todd’s career was the commission to decorate the 1929 Strathmont mansion, a superb French Normandy-style estate in West Elmira, where he began to build up a reservoir of good will and word-of-mouth regard. Crucially, his designs caught the eye of a certain Mr. Hilfiger. And that’s how Todd met Tommy.

“I gave [him] a private tour, and we hung out a bit over a few drinks. He said, ‘I’d love to see what you do,’” Todd told WETM in an interview. Tommy invited Todd to his office in New York, where “I pitched his first home collection to him—sheets, bedding, and things like that. The company wasn’t ready for that just yet, but it was a really great learning process for me, as a young person just starting out, having that opportunity to sit with Tommy and his team.” To this day, the two native sons, so similar in interests and in their love for Elmira, maintain a firm friendship; they have collaborated many times on commercial and charity projects alike. And Betsy, Tommy’s sister, is a dear friend.

Todd’s design philosophy has a few key elements. Adaptive reuse, which is transforming and reclaiming old spaces and vintage things, giving them new life. Then, cultivate a light touch in order to “complement, not jeopardize, the architecture.” Adopt a classic aesthetic. Inspired by Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, Todd says, “They are to me the quintessential American designers. They inspired my ability to understand layering and collecting.” And, receptivity. He’ll work on any project from big to small, and all he requests is that clients don’t take shortcuts, dither, or parcel out their vision.

Heading South

Todd took a gamble when he moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1992. He soon integrated himself into the community by the simple yet rewarding expedient of charity work. By mingling, meeting, and pitching in, he became a familiar face at fundraisers for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the symphony, the science museum, and the ballet.

Richmond is full of gorgeous old properties, and Todd found himself eyeing a columned and porticoed mansion named Westbourne, a 1919 Georgian Revival. A previous owner was Pulitzer-winning Civil War historian Douglas Southall Freeman.

“As a history teacher, my Dad really loved that!” says Todd, laughing. Previous guests at the house had included Robert Frost, Winston Churchill, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. But Westbourne had languished under careless ownership until Todd purchased it at a discount and made it a personal restoration project, his labor of love. He filled the house with tasteful elegance and it became a showcase of his talents.

To celebrate its completion, Todd created an innovative charity event, a Summer Lawn Whites party at Westbourne on the Fourth of July in 1999. Picture croquet, cocktails, striped tents, toddlers underfoot in floppy sun hats, and elegant living inspired by ghosts from another age. It was a smashing success. By giving back, he had made a name for himself in the Richmond community, and that directly led to some important professional advances.

Not long after, Todd earned his biggest interior design project of them all: decorating brand-new Dover Hall, a magnificent Tudor-style mansion just west of Richmond. It took six years.

“I feel like I got a PhD working on this house,” Todd told Virginia Living. Given enlightened owners and a kingly budget, Todd and his partner, David Crow, produced a magnum opus that draws raves to this day.

“Each room had a color scheme—everything was embroidered and custom-designed for the house,” recalls Todd. His design choices included an enormous sandstone mantel sourced from a Scottish estate, a portrait of Lady Henrietta Spencer, a distant forebear of Princess Diana, a Victorian elk horn chandelier so large a wall had to be cut open to install it, a painting of the Adoration of the Magi that is possibly identical to the Rubens owned by the Louvre, 100 solid bronze doorknobs salvaged from a hotel in New York, and a rare Brunswick Monarch billiards table (Todd was previously outbid for similar tables by Arnold, Sly, and Rod at Sotheby’s). All were artfully harmonized with myriad other elements peculiar and particular to each room.

“When you work on that scale it is mind-boggling,” says Todd. “The owners had a tremendous amount of trust in us.” Fifteen years later, Dover Hall is now open to the public as a stunning setting for unforgettable experiences. Condé Nast named it as the number one venue in North America for weddings, parties, and celebrations.

Another prestigious commission was the Rice House, once described as Richmond’s mid-century masterpiece. It was designed in 1962 by the great architect Richard Neutra, who had once appeared on the cover of Time magazine. The house sits on its own island, perched cliffside on a picturesque bend in the James River. By 2019, it belonged to a nonprofit, and it was in slow decline. That’s when Todd learned through contacts at the Science Museum of Virginia that it might just be for sale, but only to a tasteful buyer who was willing to respect Neutra’s vision and see the necessary renovation all the way through. Todd approached his friends and clients, David and Christy Cottrell, ardent preservationists, who then purchased the house. Todd helped them recruit a “dream team” of workmen and rehabilitators. The result was an eclectic, period-correct tour-de-force with some striking elements, including a Sputnik chandelier that once lit up the Kennedy Center, goat-hair stools purchased at auction in Copenhagen, and some Vienna Way chairs designed by an LA-based architecture firm specifically for Neutra designs. Through a friend in Corning, Kitty Erlacher, Todd even tracked down a 1957 five-piece place setting of Steuben glass stemware for ten. (He tries to use some Steuben crystal from Corning on every project. “It’s like a little signature for me,” says Todd, loyal to his roots.) The Rice House has won seven awards for historical preservation and design.

Todd ultimately did nine jobs for the Cottrells, including an actual lighthouse, built as a weekend getaway. It overlooks the small harbor in Urbanna, a colonial town on the Rappahannock known for its Oyster Festival.

“It was the most fun and one of the most beautiful homes I have worked on,” says Todd. The Cottrells wanted a nautical theme to the décor, so Todd began with their own collection of antiques and augmented it with finds like canvas fabrics, fish nets and floats, and a collection of carved model boats. Topping it all is an actual working harbor light, repurposed from a port in Australia.

One of his more unusual commissions was to refurbish a classic deadrise. That’s not a typo—a deadrise is a type of small working boat distinct to the Chesapeake Bay. The Cottrells, who bought it from an oysterman in 2002, gave him “free rein and all the time I needed, to refurbish it from A to Z. I really enjoyed that project.” It’s pure Americana, with sea-blue and white Sunbrella cushions by Ralph Lauren and much gleaming chrome and lacquered paint. When it was finished, David and Christy (and their Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Charlie) took Todd on a shakedown cruise along the inlets and harbors of the Bay with a picnic basket and some good bottles of wine (and some dog treats, too). Not a bad way to earn a living!

Home Again, Home Again

Todd lived in Richmond for twenty-three years. In 2010, he relocated for career reasons to Los Angeles and gained some prestigious West Coast commissions. But by 2017, his parents were having some age-related problems, so Todd came home again, for the best possible reason—family. Dad Gary is now in assisted living in Horseheads, where he still enjoys old-time radio. Mom Roberta is in her own home in Big Flats. Todd and his sisters care for their parents lovingly. He also dotes on two little munchkins—his great-niece and great-nephew.

During a visit home in early 2017, Todd noticed that an intriguing property in residential West Elmira, one he’d admired even as a kid, was for sale at a bargain price. He scooped it up, and it became yet another Todd Yoggy passion project.

“I remember driving by this house and I was always curious about it,” he told reporter Elizabeth Worthington while conducting a home tour. “It needed a lot of TLC, but it just seemed to be a worthy home to save.” Today, there’s classic statuary and a roaring fireplace in the cozy library. His jaunty personal office is wallpapered with interwoven newsprint strips from the New York Times. The living room has a vaulted, half-timbered ceiling, and it’s full of vintage chairs and couches. A revolving gallery nearby features his stunning collection of black-and-white photography by the likes of Bruce Weber, Berenice Abbott, and Herb Ritts. It’s home, and it’s right here in Elmira.

Despite exchanging LA for Elmira, Todd is as busy as ever. He’s currently decorating a new contemporary home in Wellsboro for Kate Black, whom he met through AJ.

“It’s one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve recently had the opportunity to work on,” he says. “Kate wasn’t afraid to go for unusual finishes throughout the house, which was a pleasure for me to seek out.” Highlights include wall murals in the master bedroom bedecked with ginkgo trees and birds, deep brown herringbone floors throughout, a sofa by A. Rudin upholstered in a warm burnt red on a Swedish flat-weave carpet, a deep black stone from Spain with white veining for the entry floor, and a snug library with ceiling-to-floor bookcases and windows, and wallcovering made from recycled bottles by Holly Hunt.

Todd is well-known for his community spirit, inspired by AJ’s advice. Among other endeavors, he was formerly on the board of the Arnot Art Museum, one of Elmira’s artistic treasures. He successfully initiated and supervised the restoration of the red brick museum’s four iconic, 180-year-old wooden columns (see our January 2025 cover story). They were reinstalled (with ceremony) in September. The board’s current concern is upgrading handicapped accessibility—made more personal to Todd by his parents’ mobility issues. That phase is well underway.

“I really recommend that [younger people] get involved with some kind of public service like the museum,” he says. “It’s a fun way to meet a lot of like-minded people from this area.”

Though he’s a realist, Todd maintains a glass-half-full attitude toward downtown Elmira. He cites the booming success of his lifelong friend Charlie Hunter’s Rye Bar gastropub and adjacent coffee shop, The Garage, which is an urban planner’s dream come true. It’s the kind of rootsy small business with a devoted customer base that can anchor a neighborhood’s revitalization and resurgence. Todd helped decorate the properties, which include some cozy B&B rooms above the bar.

“The Clemens Center, the Arnot Museum, the Arnot Carriage House…we’ve got a great legacy, and we need to recognize that,” he says. It’s too soon to tell, but the proposed Arnot Carriage House Inn at 254 Baldwin Street offers the tantalizing prospect of hosting both the revolving Tommy Hilfiger Archives and twelve boutique hotel rooms, plus an outdoor patio and glass conservatory. Stay tuned.

So what’s next for Todd Yoggy? He’s quite busy for now, saying, “I’ll work till I’m eighty-two if people will have me. But pie-in-the-sky, I think I’d like to write a book on Christmas trees, or maybe décor for holiday entertaining. That would be a nice, fun legacy.” Every year he has a fourteen-foot tree in his living room, bedecked and bespangled with forty years’ worth of heirloom ornaments.

“I’m a total traditionalist when it comes to Christmas,” he admits. Easy to say when your Dad is Santa!

If the book project does happen, a corny, yet fitting, epigraph might come from a fortune cookie verse, of all things. Todd posted it on social media a few years back. The little strip of paper reads: Doing what you love is freedom. Loving what you do is happiness. And below the photo, Todd posted: “My fortune cookie nailed it!”