WILMINGTON, N.C.: Dennis Setterfield, who is well into his second half century of designing bars and taverns, restaurants and nightclubs, movie sets and retail stores, chuckles over one of his most interesting assignments.
“I did the sanctuary of the St. Brendan Church in Shallotte with beautiful millwork,” said Setterfield, who also designed a 16-by-14-foot altar screen. “I was hired by a number of the church members who, ahem, had enjoyed the work I did in various bars and pubs.”
To be discreet, the St. Brendan parishioners could have become acquainted with Setterfield’s design work from Disney World, or any Ralph Lauren Polo store, or different movie scenes from “Sleeping with the Enemy” or “Smokey and the Bandit.” His design curriculum vita is eye-popping – he’s redone Fat Tony’s and Front Street Brewery, for example, as well as Island Tackle and Hardware and the Fresh Market at Mayfaire.
“No, I’m not tired,” said Setterfield, 75. “I’ve always got the next renovation ready to go in my mind. And in between, Sherron (his wife) and I travel somewhere like Barcelona or Paris or St. Petersburg to relax and unwind.”
Dennis and Sherron Setterfield met in Newland more than 20 years ago when he was renovating restaurants in the North Carolina mountains and she was running her own restaurant there. They soon married and moved to a neighborhood off River Road, buying and building a home that has become a microcosm for Setterfield Design, complete with his signature Punka Fans that you may have seen swaying from the ceilings at Rucker Johns or Elizabeth’s Pizza.
Setterfield and his stable of independent craftsmen currently have been up to their elbows on Pleasure Island. One of his favorite redos was a redesign of Kure Beach restaurant Jack Mackerel’s. Now he’s moved up the road to help revitalize what was the BlackHorn Bar & Kitchen, on the Carolina Beach boardwalk.
His design touch is about to turn the sooted, shut-down BlackHorn into Shelby Jean’s, which will soon be giving off warm and comfy vibes as a restaurant and pub. Setterfield and his team were doing their thing as owners David and Shelby Jean Gibson offered enthusiastic encouragement.
“I got lucky when Dennis walked in the door and offered to help us make this place over,” says Gibson, who bought Harbor Masters restaurant two years ago and rechristened it Gibby’s Dock and Dine. A year later, just after marrying Shelby Jean, who is the former manager of the Port City Animal Hospital, they bought the shuttered BlackHorn. “We decided to name it after Shelby Jean since I have Gibby’s.”
They almost didn’t have Shelby Jean’s.
“About a week after we bought it, we were coming out of Gibby’s in the morning and saw all this smoke down the street,” remembers Shelby Jean. “I thought: `This is a fine way to start.’ It looked like the boardwalk was on fire.”
Because it was. Flames roared up from an arcade, a pizza parlorand other shops. But across the street, BlackHorn and Britt’s Donuts survived.
“They say they’re bringing back a pizza place and a bigger arcade across from us,” said Shelby Jean. “And that would be fine.”
They also are fine with the idea of Setterfield making the place sparkle for its planned opening later this month to coincide with the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the expanded Carolina Beach boardwalk.
“He’s something,” smiled David. “He walked in with his photo book of what he’s done. That made it easy. He’s really done some nice work.”-AP
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