Published in print and online
By Jennifer Corr
Photos by Dana Shaw and Jennifer Corr
One house, 25 designers and artists.
The 2019 Hampton Designer Showhouse occupies a newly built home in Southampton this summer with the minds of each artist and designer involved working to make an imaginative, summertime residence.
“Every designer comes from almost any part of the country, sometimes outside the country every once in a while,” said Christopher Castro, the manager of the Hampton Designer Showhouse. “We have people from Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Georgia. People come from all over to be part of the show house.”
That includes Alessandra Branca, who runs her eponymous interior design business, which has offices based in New York City, Chicago and West Hollywood. She designed the living room.
Walking through the front door, the eye may be drawn to the beachy color palette that defines the living room. The space is complemented by the sun that shines through the back, sliding doors that almost make the space seem like a sunroom.
All the decorations, vintage furniture, fabrics and other details in the living room were designed or curated by Ms. Branca. The fabrics on the furniture were personally designed by her and are part of a new launch called Casa Branca.
“The color scheme came from just a feeling of wanting to be in the sun. You want to be here and you want some sunshine,” Ms. Branca said. “And you want the lightness of the space. I think this room also works well at night because you have a balance of light at different places.”
Ms. Branca did say that designing the living room for this show house presented a few challenges.
“There was a design issue here,” Ms. Branca said. “It’s the fact that this living room is like a hallway because it really is the way to go from the front door to the pool.”
To separate the front entrance from the living room, Ms. Branca installed a portière, a curtain placed over a doorless entrance, providing a sense of privacy.
Ms. Branca had to also provide enough space in the living room so that all the potential guests could have a seat. She did this by creating a “double living room,” with two sets of chairs, ottomans and vintage sofas back-to-back.
The house has seven bedrooms and numerous amenities that would certainly entertain many guests, such as a backyard pool, a large dining room, and a downstairs bar and screening room.
To accommodate the residents and guests, the house possesses six full bathrooms, two half bathrooms and a “gourmet kitchen.” All of the cabinets and vanities throughout the home were designed by Ciuffo Cabinetry, which is based in Deer Park. Ciuffo Cabinetry also designed the kitchen.
“This is our kitchen,” said Joseph Ciuffo, the vice president of the company. “We went for a suburban loft look. We designed and fabricated the custom panels in the back of the upper cabinets, as well as the black and steel effect paint that we fabricated for this, and we selected special oak to sort of blend everything together.”
Ciuffo Cabinetry finished off the kitchen by selecting all the appliances for the space.
The company’s work can be found throughout the house in the his-and-hers closets, laundry rooms and bathrooms, including the bathroom that accompanies “Bedroom 5,” the guest room downstairs.
That room was designed by Carter Design, a full-service interior design firm founded by Genevieve and Cy Carter with offices based in Los Feliz, California, and St. James on Long Island. Ms. Carter is a descendant of Stanford White, an American architect who was a partner of McKim, Mead & White, an architectural firm that is known for projects such as New York’s original Pennsylvania Station and for renovating the White House in 1903.
Ms. Carter used to visit Long Island as a guest, staying at her grandparents’ home, the former home of Mr. White. “I got a lens of Long Island that was focused on a bit of both nature and history, and I wanted to share that experience in creating this room,” Ms. Carter said.
The inspiration for the room and its “subtle” color scheme was found in a shell deposited on a North Shore beach. “I really think it’s great to have a holistic experience when you’re visiting some place that you can kind of stay and be inspired by the natural elements.”
The room also includes work from five generations of Ms. Carter’s family, including a mirror enclosed in a gilt frame designed by Mr. White.
“We loved how the [mirror] could pull the light—the Long Island light is such a special light—into the room and bounce it around, because it’s such a large frame,” Ms. Carter said.
A painting by Mr. White’s grandson, Robert White, hangs on the wall across from the mirror, along with work by other descendants, including Ms. Carter, whose work depicts a horseshoe crab. “It’s a celebration of five generations and a celebration of Long Island as a bastion of creativity and creative spirit,” Ms. Carter said.
And while the guest room provides a place for a guest to unwind and relax, the room next door, “Bedroom 4,” is the place to restore. That’s why designer Laurence Carr, who founded Laurence Carr Design based in New York City, calls it the “Restorative Room,” which is complete with a wall mural by Sofia Willamoës inspired by the Amazon rainforest and stylish furnishings and decor that she curated to contribute to the serene theme.
“The inspiration was taken from the Pillars of Ikigai [a Japanese philosophy], which is based on five pillars and I focused on two,” Mr. Carr said. “The second one is about releasing oneself, which means really, particularly resting and detaching oneself from the stress of everyday life. And then the fourth one is about enjoying the small things in life.”
The third pillar is sustainability, which is a priority of Ms. Carr as well as the companies she sources materials from.
The room’s window provides a view of a garden which, according to Ms. Carr, creates a connection to nature and “brings the outside inside, so that one can enjoy feeling rested and seeing green and nature inside.”
According to Mr. Castro, designers like Ms. Carr are given the chance “to showcase their talents, their work” and guests can come “see what makes [the designers] all different in their own ways.”
Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is the beneficiary of the event. Admission is $40 and includes a show house journal. The show house, built by Paramount Custom Homes, is located at 66 Rosko Lane in Southampton Village and is open through September 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online. More information is available at hamptondesignershowhouse.com.
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