Photography by Drew Bordeaux
“God said let there be light, and there was light! …But there still wasn’t really great indoor or landscape lighting until I came along!” says Mark Mosello in his typically irreverent and jocular manner. …But he can back it up – with his more than 50 years of lighting up Westchester and Fairfield Counties as his proof!
Mosello’s Design Lighting By Marks has done more residential indoor and outdoor lighting in this area than any other concern, period. And his 23 Banks Design Group has a long history of completing sophisticated and simple residential redesigns and renovations, on time and on budget. Mark exclaims, “At 77, I know a few things about lighting, but you know I still focus on each job like it was my first. I want to light up my customers’ lives!”
Mark grew up in Yonkers, the youngest of three boys, raised Catholic in a working class family with an Italian father and Jewish mother. He lived near Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course, and as a young kid he made cash collecting lost golf balls and selling them, and Kool-Aid, to the golfers. He graduated from Lincoln High School and, at the age of only 17, married his first wife…and welcomed their daughter, Pauline, into a world…where Mark needed to immediately start making a living!
“I got a job working as a Shop Boy for a rough and tumble guy named Luca Cappelli, who was an enterprising electrical contractor expanding into development – and the father of the White Plains developer Louis Cappelli. I spent a decade working my way up and in every capacity of Luca’s organization, and learning everything there is to know about doing electrical work of every kind,” Mark recalls. “I was in the Electrical Workers Union and, in 1969, I got viral meningitis and spent two weeks in the hospital. When they sent me a $16,500 check for workers comp…I went into business for myself.”
“I started driving around to jobs in a 4-door Chevy with an extension ladder tied to the passenger side of the car. Then I bought an old milk truck and converted it to my purposes,” Mark smiles remembering his hardscrabble start. “My first job was putting in an exhaust fan, I had to go back four times to finish the work, and I got paid $15, but I made sure I got it right. I put a crew together, and then another and another, and I developed a pretty successful business doing electrical contracting, and eventually I expanded into roofing, landscaping, masonry, and carpentry.”
“In 1971, I was working on an interior renovation job in Scarsdale and, for no particular reason, I took particular notice of the splendid Magnolia that was the center attraction on the front lawn. I suggested to the homeowners that I light-up the tree…which was a novel idea at the time! I hadn’t seen it done, I just imagined how great the tree would look, and knew I had the know-how to do it right. The homeowners were hesitant about the $300 cost, so I offered to install the lighting and only collect the fee if they were thrilled with the result. …They were! …Then a neighbor saw it and called to get the same…and outdoor lighting has been a principal focus of my business ever since!”
I’m proud to say my work always stands out! When someone drives by a house and landscape I’ve lit up, there’s a substance, balance and professionalism that’s just right!Mark Mosello
“And I do almost as much indoor lighting as landscape work,” Mark continues. “With good indoor lighting I can change the mood and feeling of a home. Sometimes even some small lighting adjustments will warm a room or make a whole house feel more inviting and welcoming. Beyond the color and intensity of the light inside the house, installing proper lights to highlight art, or to backlight a bar, or up-light a ceiling, can change your living experience.”
Adding finally, “And, beyond lighting, with my 23 Banks Design Group, also based in Bedford, I still do all kinds of high-end landscaping, masonry, and carpentry.”
Running Design Lighting By Marks and 23 Banks Design Group has Mark running around Westchester and Fairfield like the Eveready Bunny…but, like Superman, he always shows up when you need him. He’s with his third wife, Laurie, and has four biological children and four stepchildren. He and Laurie recently sold their own estate in Waccabuc – and there’s a rumor that Taylor Swift was the buyer! – and he and Laurie now reside in South Salem. He gets out for an occasional round of golf…but is almost always talking about a job or, worse, having to leave golfing early to make sure his guys got it right lighting up some customer’s property.
Good lighting can be transformative. …In the B&NC MAG area, Mark Mosello is the man!
As featured in the January/February 2025 issue of Bedford & New Canaan Magazine