Saturday's East Hampton House & Garden Tour Rings in Holiday Season
The fun and festive annual East Hampton Historical Society House & Garden Tour rings in the East End holiday season—every year the area’s finest examples of historic and modern architecture are showcased. Look for five unique homes on the tour this year and appreciate the eclectic mix of architectural styles—there’s something for everyone’s taste on the tour, from charming classic cottage style homes to more modern architecture.
“Our House Tour Committee has creatively selected five homes that uniquely express the spirit of living by the sea. Different yet complementary, these private homes invite the viewer to take a ramble along the coast to ‘look inside’ some of East Hampton’s most alluring homes,” says Richard Barons, executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society.
The opening night cocktail party was held at the home of Jack and LuAnn Grubman. The Grubmans’ country house is tastefully hidden in Georgica, one of East Hampton’s famous estate sections. Their shingle-style “cottage” started as an early 20th-century summer home, and went through expansions in the late 1950s. Today it’s a prime example of the area’s most famous early summer architectural design, and shows the expansion from generation to generation. This home is a welcoming spot to toast the 2013 East Hampton House & Garden Tour!
First on the tour will be a Japanese-inspired oasis in the spirit of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, lying within a unique compound with a Japanese-inspired garden, Koi pond, and indoor and outdoor pools. The property is tucked away, yet near the Village of East Hampton. The home offers the owner’s perspective of living within the intimate gardens and the landscape. Second on the tour is a dream-like “barn-of-a-house” overlooking Georgica Pond. The home boasts expansive ocean views, and timbers from Anne Boleyn’s 500-year-old grain barn from Kent, England. The property is reminiscent of the days when East Hampton was a farming community, with rolling hills leading to the ocean. As a further nod to the Boleyn, the library paneling matches that of Hever Castle, her childhood home.
The third house is a mix of traditional and contemporary, a 2,100- square-foot, cozy retreat. This gambrel style home combines traditional Shingle Style with contemporary interiors. Designed by East End architect, Bruce Siska, this newly renovated house offers all the charm of a classic East Hampton “cottage,” but with modern amenities and eco-friendly technology, including a high efficiency geothermal HVAC system. Fourth on the tour is 19th century home with a spacious wraparound porch offering views of the Atlantic. The home is owned by an interior designer. Attention to detail is evident in every room, including a full set of wicker furniture from the 1920s that has been in the family for decades. Last, but certainly not least, is a seaside retreat in Napeague Dunes, and truly one of the greatest sites on the ocean in all of Long Island. Owned by David Netto, a well-known interior designer who collaborated with the Meyer Davis Studio, this Amagansett house has a series of interlocking hexagons, with windows that take full advantage of the breathtaking ocean views.
It’s tradition that exact locations of these houses will be revealed to ticketholders the weekend of the event, heightening anticipation. I hope to see you along the footpaths of these amazing homes, as we head into the holiday season on the East End.
Tickets to the self-guided 2013 East Hampton House & Garden Tour are $65 in advance and $75 on the day of the tour. All ticket proceeds benefit the East Hampton Historical Society. The Opening Night Cocktail Party is a fundraising event for the East Hampton Historical Society.