The ONH Team
Meet Melissa and Dave Dilmaghani, the creators and curators of Old New House®, your premiere online source for vintage and antique rugs, with a small batch approach and large scale selection. Dave is a 4th generation rug seller on his mother's side, and 5th generation on his father's. On his father’s side, there is an unbroken lineage in designing, manufacturing and importing hand knotted rugs dating to the mid 1800's! Just like his ancestors before him, quality and craftsmanship is of the utmost importance. He takes great pride in dating and describing each and every rug that is sold because each one has its own one of a kind characteristics that deserve to be noted. Melissa’s background is in photography and interior design. Even after 12 years (!!) of being in business and having listed thousands of rugs online, Melissa remains the exclusive photographer and editor for every item that goes live on the site. Though a hand-knotted carpet novice when she met Dave in 2009, she quickly identified with and developed the same passion for rugs as pieces of art for the home. Through her trained eye as a photographer, Melissa ultimately conveys the history, decorative merit, story and relevance of each rug in the context of modern decor. In her years of capturing thousands of rugs through images, she eagerly shares what she has learned with customers old and new when they visit the showroom.
With two young children at home, Melissa and Dave balance family life with sourcing, capturing and posting each hand selected rug and item online, running their flagship brick and mortar shop in the NYC suburbs as well as making one of a kind furniture and pillows. At the very same time, they pride themselves on being readily available to answer any and all of your questions prior to, during, and after purchasing an Old New House rug or product, and keep the experience personalized and hands-on every step of the way!
Meet AJ! Love how fast and how beautifully your ONH package arrived? Enjoy how easily we can locate that rug you might like additional photos of? This is all very much what the team's right hand man is responsible for - all packaging, physical inventory management, new rug/item processing, etc. Rugs, especially large ones, can be very difficult to wrap and pack, let alone move around constantly, and AJ does it all with ease. Fun fact - he has also been the one to work on several of the live edge furniture pieces we have launched in our Katonah flagship, and he and Dave work beautifully in tandem when figuring out how and what they want to produce in the small batch furniture department.
1. Favorite pastime? "Hanging out with my kids."
2. What is your favorite type of rug? "Sold ONH rugs!"
3. What do you love most about working at ONH? "Always a new project and the family atmosphere."
Meet Lillian! Having been with us since 2016, Lil can be seen in many roles from helping in the Katonah shop, assisting you with your online order and bookkeeping!
1. Favorite pastime? "Spending time with family, reading, and making art!"
2. What is your favorite type of rug or favorite thing about rugs? "I prefer vintage and antique handmade rugs as they feel more unique and special, and I love to imagine the history behind each piece. My favorite thing about rugs is how they can make a room feel so much cozier - you could not, for example, have a true reading nook without a rug!"
3. What do you love most about working at ONH? "Besides my newfound obsession with rugs, is working with the people. I feel so lucky that I have ended up working at a company full of people I love!"
