Living Out Loud
On almost any standard, people in the Hamptons live on a large scale, many on a mammoth scale, and a certain few on, well, a Brobdingnagian scale. To this last group, we commend this new listing at $7,900,000.
Architecture: Houses this size (10,000 square feet) risk looking dilated, stretched and spread, but the organizational principles of this newly built home result in a nice exterior cohesiveness.
Site: Six acres fronting on Mill Pond, with house, pool, tennis, dock and an old gatehouse—a lavish and all-inclusive package.
The inside word: It’s a new standard—by far—for Mill Pond, in size, luxury and price. Inexorably, like the desert in China, the estate areas of the Hamptons keep expanding.
Taste of Entitlement
We wouldn’t take this house too seriously if it were anyplace outside the Southampton estate area—but it’s correct in its context, precise in its taste and has a reassuring sense of entitlement.
Architecture: Formal, decorative, proper and respectable, with a few flourishes of the French style, this house fits confidently in its upscale neighborhood.
Site: Somewhat over an acre, heavily landscaped with pool and pool house, and, of course, a gated tree-lined drive.
The inside word: There are some nice touches like a three story master suite and a three car garage decked out in formal trim. We can picture the buyer: conservative, of a certain age and a secure place in the social world. Offered at $2,950,000.
Substance and Symmetry
Like so many things in our world of instant communication and light speed fads, many of the new houses we see reflect a transient quality, this year’s, if not this week’s style. Certain of our neighborhoods are in danger of becoming collective time capsules of architectural styles instead of authentic communities.
Architecture: Everything old is new again. There is a pleasant massing of traditional forms and an agreeable composition encompassing symmetry in the center and asymmetrical wings.
Site: A much sought after place. The Water Mill estate area, with some water views.
The inside word: A restrained touch keeps this house from becoming just another reworking of the shingle-style vocabulary. The house is imposing, with a strong solid aspect. The price, at $5,950,000, is impressive also. But this is a house where you can put down roots; it should age well and retain value.
Eminent Victorian
After seeing so many houses that are overreaching overbearing and overblown, it is a joy to see houses that are naturally elegant. Such houses do not try too hard to impress; they seem to achieve a dignity that is rooted in inherently good form, good construction and thoughtful detailing.
Architecture: 1892 must have been a very good year. At least judging from this finely wrought and tasteful product of that time. The clean lines are as pure and fitting as many modernist structures. And the controlled use of exterior ornament makes what is there even more special. The dark wood interiors are impeccable.
Site: Bulkheaded waterfront in the Northhampton Shores section of Noyac, a posh-y little enclave far from the estate areas.
The inside word: This is a refined home—in the sense that it is pared down to important details. What was not done is as important as what was done. The result, even 110 years later, is gracious genteel, dignified, and ready to proudly deal with another century. Offered at $6,000,000.