BY ABBY FOX

East Greenwich’s latest ugly duckling turned-into-a-swan story is right in the middle of town at Crestar, the wholesale commercial and retail picture framing and art reproduction business. Recently, it moved into an old warehouse off Main Street from its former home, since 1998, at the Ladd Street mills.

Owners Cathy Buchanan and Jason Dittelman put hundreds of gallons of paint into the makeover of the old garage, once belonging to New England Telephone.

“It was a disgusting, dirty garage,” Dittelman said. “If you had seen this before, you would cry: the ugliest, sorriest thing in town.”

With the help of a feng shui expert and after seven weeks of cleaning and the installation of new electricity, heat, air conditioning and bathrooms, the business opened at the beginning of 2006.

The couple is at last getting around to having an open house celebration and they’re focusing it around one of their favorite clients, photographer Onne van der Wal, who will have his yacht and sailing photography on display in a show Thursday, Nov. 13.

van der Wal “does work all over the world,” Dittelman said. “He’s a wonderful person, very engaging. He’s one of the premiere yachting photographers. This guy is unbelievable.”

Thorpe’s Liquors is providing the wine, Pinelli-Marra is doing the catering, and Big Sisters is holding a clothing and household goods drive outside, because “it’s going to be a cold winter, and people are going to need an extra blanket or a sweater,” he said.

The 1,700-square foot business “pumps out a lot of frames,” Buchanan said during a quick tour -- up to 100 frames a day.

“We’ve never had an open house,” Dittelman said. “This is our coming-out party. We’re not asking people to spend money. We’re asking them to donate, have a glass of wine and see a great show.”

Crestar is at 51 Liberty Street, behind Centreville Bank and can be reached at 885-0300 and the artist can be found at his gallery at Bannister’s Wharf in Newport or online at www.vanderwal.com/.