With one cocktail party, our image of Villa Maria zipped from hooked rugs and Barcaloungers to posh and plummy design. Saturday’s glittering opening of the Hampton Designer Showhouse swiftly moved Villa Maria into the mainstream of Hamptons style and social life. “This party demystified the Villa and opened the doors,” said Executive Director Dr. Richard Lawless.
Who’d have predicted a prioress would become a celebrity name in the Hamptons? But Sister Mary Hughes OP teamed up with design luminaries such as Maria Buatta, John Loring and Edwina von Gal to launch a fundraising drive for the restoration and preservation of this architecturally important Dominican retreat –currently used as the nondenominational Siena Spirituality Center. Carroll Petrie, Jan Cowles, Henry Buhl and disco queen Donna Summers all showed up.
Gary Crain chaired the Designer’s Committee along with Tom Fleming and Charlotte Moss. Designers who contributed rooms included Eugenia Au Kim, John Barman, Michael Christiano, David Anthony Easton and Tom Britt. Mario Nivera, Jack deLashmet, Christopher LaGuardia and a host of talented landscapers created the gardens. Among those enjoying cocktails on the lawn were Pat Kennedy Lawford, Judy Licht and Jerry Della Femina, Joy Marks, Robert Zimmerman and Catherine di Montezemolo. Just when we thought we had seen enough designer textiles to last the summer, we came across the surprise look of the evening in the tent: numerous young men in brightly patterned pants by Steven Stolman.
