Designer Roundup in Southampton

What do Tory Burch, Daniel Romualdez, and Jeffrey Bilhuber have in common? Several things probably, but oddly enough, they've all had their hands on one magnificent beach house plot on Southampton island, New York.

Let's first talk about the address: Meadow Lane. Meadow Lane is home to billionaire after billionaire. Curbed mapped the entire street here, calling it "where the 1 percent of the 1 percent summer". It's true. Property here starts in the 8-figures, and changes hands very infrequently.

Tory and her ex-husband Chris bought a house on Meadow Lane while married, the existing house (an impressive 14,000 square feet) needed work, but with 4.5 acres of prime Atlantic Ocean views, 200 FEET of white sand and coastal frontage ... it's hard to pass up the opportunity - especially when you're loaded and friends with designer and architect Daniel Romualdez.

The house the Burch family purchased. The Atlantic Ocean at the rear, and the Shinnecock Bay at the drive. The family vacationed here until Chris and Tory divorced. The settlement details of the divorce are unclear, but Tory seemed to have been saddled with (1) maintaining a residence in Southampton and (2) paying Chris the then appraised value of the house in order to keep it. After doing so, the house apparently suffered some extreme water damage, meaning the only suitable option was to tear the house down. Tory hired Daniel Romualdez to design a brand new, more more traditional house on the property, 1/2 the size of the original. They spent years getting permission of the Southampton Board of Approvals to tear down the original structure, built in the 1980s.

It was met with some resistance. This sort of thing always is, but the approval finally came through just months before Tory put the house on the market. A 7100+ square foot traditional architecture symmetrical beach house complete with multiple balconies and porches to soak up those views.

Unfortunately, there are no greater images of the plans available on the internet, at least that I could find. But this lower level features the bedrooms of the house, what looks to be a total of 5, plus two more master suites on the second floor.

Being close to the parking area of a public entrance to the beach, many people have posted pictures of the new structure both during construction, and after construction had been finished.

This eagle eyed instagrammer, keen on architecture, snapped this pretty sunset photo of the house shortly after construction of the exterior had been finished, and all trucks and equipment were gone from view. What I want you to pay attention to is the porch railing. I know, I know, such a small thing to keep on your radar. But you'll see why in a second.

I remember seeing this house plan and thinking "I wonder what the interiors are going to look like?" No doubt if Tory had actually stayed put in this house that Romualdez built, he would have helped to design it. But after selling the lot and the plans, who would the new owners choose?

Remember why I said to keep those railings in your frontal lobe? The answer came when Jeffrey Bilhuber posted this image to his instagram account. The dining room of the new Romualdez plan.

And here, the living room of the new home. Every sneak peek is more stunning than the last. Jeffrey installed the house in March of 2018, and it has yet to be published, and it seems that nobody (even the builder) is posting pics of the house online. The only additional photo I could find was  a bathroom fully decked in marble slabs:

Needless to say, I'm sure that AD is gearing up to feature the whole house at some point - and it seems, we'll either have to wait until then or hope that Bilhuber posts a few more sneak peeks on his instagram in the mean time.

If you've found these interiors beautiful, you definitely should take a peek at some books authored by Jeffrey, and a few others on the Hamptons that I think are top notch: 

I spent hours, literally, researching this post. Diving in and trying to find photos of the house (finished and during construction). All of that searching let me empty with photos of the house, but rich with inspiration in creating the perfect beach-side getaway. 

Block Printed Linens and Textiles in Blue and White

Jute and other Natural fiber rugs with fringe details

Blue and White Chinoiserie accessories

See my list of really affordable pieces on Amazon at this post

http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com/2019/01/blue-and-white-porcelain-for-less-than.html

Linen Drapery without Pattern

Modern Brass accessories 

Straw bags for everything! From shoes to blankets ... 

And if you're not lucky enough to own a beach cottage ... 

This is a lot less expensive! 

Tory Burch's Westerly

Design maven Tory Burch is no stranger to the spotlight when it comes to her homes. Her friend and trusted decorator, architect Daniel Romauldez, has designed all of her homes and her stores - including the beautiful Paris Flagship store. When Tory purchased her newest home, the estate built for business tycoon John W. Kiser in 1929 on Southampton's tony Ox Pasture Road, Daniel quickly got to work, and the house was featured in a small spread in Vogue the following year. 

An areal photo of Westerly after completion. At this point, the house was actually named Sunset Court by the owner John W. Kiser, and his family. It wasn't until two seasons after the original opening of the 15,000 square foot summer "cottage", that the family renamed the home Westerly. The Kiser family lived at Westerly for over 20-years, until the late 1950's, when they sold the house to Philadelphia businessman Donald Stewart Leas, stepfather of socialite Fernanda Wanamaker. 

Today Westerly looks a little different, doesn't it? Much more developed, with landscape fully realized, and other mansions dotting the landscape. 

An old photo of the water gardens shows that Westerly had original landscaping that included a small pond.

When Tory bought the house, the pond was long gone, but the manicured hedge rows were still in tact.

Today, the gardens were redesigned by Tory and landscape designer Perry Guillot to make room for a large play/entertaining area. 

I'm a fan of this change, what do you think?

When Tory purchased the mansion, there were several out buildings originally part of the estate, designed to accommodate year-round staff, gardeners, and guest overflow. (Can you imagine having so many summer guests that you'd fill a 15,000 square foot home?) The property was subdivided during the sale, and Tory purchased the main house (above) along with a large part of the divided acreage. 

The original landscape was purposely overgrown at Westerly prior to Tory purchasing the home. A live-in gardener has been maintaining the grounds since 1994 when the property was purchased by millionaire, Howard Gittis. 

By the time of her Vogue article, Tory had carefully manicured the heirloom plantings  with only a few short trimmings of the evergreens by the door. 

And for the AD article, things look a little more full and overgrown, with the windows barely seen on the first floor.

Valet drivers bringing around high-end luxury cars to guests at Tory's luncheon fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. Check out Anna Wintour to the right in her blue Tory Burch dress. 

What I've found most fascinating about the transition of this house, are the interiors from 1994 (above) to what follows, and how much of the furniture was left in the house or purchased by Tory and Daniel and reused!

Tory purchased the estate from the trust, after the death of long-time owner Howard Gittis, an attorney and adviser to Revlon owner who passed away leaving much of his fortune to his four daughters. I would imagine that a lot of the furniture in the house was not of interest to the family, and was for sale by the trust. 

Still, it's hard to imagine someone buying a 32 MILLION dollar home and then reusing furniture. But I'm loving it! It goes to show that it's not always necessary to buy new - and even extremely high end design doesn't always mean it cost a fortune.

For Vogue. The sofa's and the large, square coffee table with the Greek key legs stayed. 

But later, by the time of the AD feature, the room had changed a little more, with the sofas purchased from Gittis now slipcovered in the iconic Bowood fabric. 

Looking toward the other end of the former ballroom, you see that even more furniture was part of the original listing. The sofa (facing the shot) here, had already been reupholstered in Bowood before the Vogue article was published. And the side chair to the right of it can now be seen as part of a pair entering into the Swedish pine paneled library in the Vogue feature.

Alternate side of the room, today.

In the main hall from Vogue, entry to the dining room and library. Today, the view is a bit different: 

A large, natural carpet from Stark Carpet covers most of the marble floors, and an octagonal table filled with myrtle topiary in terracotta pots anchors the massive space. On the opposite side: 

The entry into the dining room, with matching vignettes following the natural symmetry of the architecture. 

For the real estate listing, you can see that Gittis also had a center table in that foyer. A long table sits atop a pattern woven natural rug, seating 14 comfortably. Notice anything else? Keep looking! Check out the Empire style mirror based ballroom tables nestled between those windows. That's right - the same ones that are now used outside of this room in the foyer. 

The inside of the room wasn't really featured in Vogue. There was this photo, which hinted at a big change: 

Walls were finished in a beautiful Iksel pattern, also notably used by Mark D. Sikes in a project featured in his book, Beautiful. Thankfully though, Architectural Digest showed us the whole space: 

Tory's desginer, Daniel Romualdez chose to use two tables here instead of the one long table. Seating exists for 14, just at two different tables. Do the chairs look familiar? Yep! Scroll back up. I have to say that I do love the new serving tables, and of course that wall covering: 

Gorgeous, right? Sigh ... such beauty. The Dining room is HUGE:

From Tory's blog, a party with 3 tables, and seating for 30. WOW! And speaking of wow, check out this close up of those beautiful dining room walls:

For the listing, the sun porch with its wicker furniture and potted plants.

The same room for Vogue. Quite different, but with a similar feeling, don't you think? Relaxed and sophisticated. This may be my favorite room in the whole house! 

Looking the opposite direction for the October Architectural Digest, a similar view to the listing photo. The walls and sofa upholstered in the same Quadrille Persepolis fabric.

Before, looking down the long hallway of the side entry. You can see the staircase peeking out of the arched opening at the end of the hall. 

At the other end of the hall, you see steps that lead down to a ground level, a skirted table and chivari chair covered in Scalamandre's silk velvet le Tigre can be seen behind Tory and her three sons. This was for the Vogue shoot.

Today, the table is covered in Schumacher's Pyne Hollyhock, and the chairs were replaced by these French ones in leather. From this shot, you can tell a little bit about the overall flow of the house. Beyond this hall, the stairs lead down into what used to be the old ballroom. What today is Tory's living room with the persimmon silk curtains. Through that room, you find the sunroom papered in Persepolis.

The library is a room where original furniture no longer remains. Here in the listing, the Swedish pine paneled walls play backdrop to richly colored rugs and art, and jewel toned furniture.

For AD, Tory and Daniel kept the mirror above the fireplace, the rug, the floor lamps, and even the curtains. New upholstered furniture and art give the room a completely different feeling though. 

The master suite prior to Tory and Daniel working on it. This room didn't get a feature in the Vogue spread, but made one heck of an impression for AD:

Replacement of the wall-to-wall carpet with a new patterned rug, along with lots of Colefax and Fowler chintz.

The mansion boasts a total of 25-rooms, including 12-bedrooms. While the only before and after I could find was of Tory's master, there are other bedrooms from both Vogue and AD:

The pavillion by the pool is a 75-year old structure, built by the original family and architect. When Tory bought the house, this section was subdivided into her ownership along with the mansion.

It looks beautiful with climbing roses and blue and white porcelain for AD.

Another shot, looking toward the pool through the pavilion.

And for AD, with the table all set, the original chandelier remains. 

This instagram photo shows a secondary seating area of the pavilion, furnished in white wicker.

I'm sure that the house will be photographed again, and again and more rooms of the impressive mansion will come into view. Til then, thanks to Vogue and AD, we can ooo and aww over these.