Long Island native a contestant on 'HGTV Design Star'

Manhattan design director Tom Vecchione, who owns a home in Oak Beach and grew up in Baldwin, will be featured this season on "HGTV Design Star."

He is one of 12 contestants on the cable show, whose fifth season premieres at 10 p.m. June 13.

Vecchione, 46, is a graduate of Baldwin High School and the Old Westbury campus of the New York Institute of Technology. His parents live in Garden City.

He works at a global architectural firm.

He owns a weekend home in Oak Beach, seen here, which he designed himself. It is made of sustainable wood and reclaimed materials, such as windows, doors, shutters and floor boards.

"I never scrape them or paint them or refinish them ... I like when materials show where they come from ... to me, they've lived a long time ... to me that tells you stories," Vecchione says in his audition tape.

Contestants on "HGTV Design Star" will do New York City-based challenges, such as decorating a small white room with $500 worth of materials purchased only in Chinatown.

The grand prize is hosting a cable TV show. The judges are Candice Olson, Genevieve Gorder and Vern Yip.