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Redcraft, on Ox Pasture Lane, Southampton, is a fascinating house. Originally called Red Croft, it was built in 1897 by Charles G. Francklyn. Even in an area like Southampton, famous for celebrities and huge personalities, there can be few whose lives rivaled Charles Gilbert Francklyn's.

He was the great grandson of pro-slavery polemicist Gilbert Francklyn, who owned plantations in Tobago and Jamaica. His mother, Sarah Jane Cunard, was the daughter of the shipping magnate. Charles was born in 1844 in London and later moved to New York to work as an agent for the Cunard shipping line. In addition to his own capital investments, which included railroad stock, he managed interests for British investors, including his friend Lord Rosebery, the future British prime minister. Lord Rosebery's marriage to the Rothschild heiress made him one of the wealthiest men in Britain.

Francklyn was prominent in the development of the gas industry in New York; in 1878 he organized the Municipal Gas Light Company and later founded the Consolidated Gas Company of New York. He arranged to buy from William Rockefeller a waste product, naphtha, that Standard Oil had been dumping into the sea. Francklyn then invented a process by which hydrogen gas and naphtha were combined to create gas that could be used to illuminate. Consolidated Gas then acquired steam, gas, and electric companies serving New York City and Westchester. Today it's known as Consolidated Edison.

In 1882, the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company, an English syndicate headed by Charles, purchased 637,440 acres of the Texas panhandle for $887,000. An enormous cattle ranch was built intending to cash in on the "Beef Bonanza." Unfortunately, the manager appointed by the Francklyn company overspent on livestock, fencing, as well as living quarters. A terrible blizzard in January 1886 made the ranch bankrupt.

The next year, Francklyn, also president of the Horn Silver Mining Company, known as the richest silver mine in the world, was arrested at home in New York. The charge was fraud. Francklyn's cousin, Sir Bache Cunard, alleged that Charles had embezzled $3,000,000 Cunard had entrusted him to invest for his own use. Litigation over the matter (once Francklyn made bail) dragged on for many years, and also included a libel action by Francklyn to The Times of London.

Eventually, the litigation cost Francklyn his summer home at Elberon, New Jersey, a Shingle Style house designed by Charles McKim of McKim, Meade and White. It was here that President James Garfield, trying to recover from an assassin's bullet, was brought to recuperate and it was here that President Garfield died. (The Francklyn Cottage burned to the ground in 1914.)

The main Francklyn residence, where he lived with wife Susan and children Gilbert and Doris, was 5 Washington Square, New York. Of course, the family needed a summer home as well, and they chose Southampton. The Francklyn family was one of the first to make Southampton a fashionable destination.

Unfortunately, little is known about Red Croft's design or construction: Susan was in charge of furnishing it. Nor is much known about the garden design. Recently, though, landscape architect Perry Guillot, who reworked the gardens for the present owner, noted, "A century-old allée of chestnut trees along the east border is like no other in the village of Southampton."

The Francklyns lived quietly and happily at Red Croft for many years. Mrs. Francklyn made the papers in 1915, when apparently she had a moving picture stopped at a local theater because of its raciness. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, "Who Stopped the Movies? None Will Take the Credit Mrs. Francklyn of Southampton Insists She Didn't Do It Or Rather Her Daughter Does And Manager Allen Says He Ought to Know. [...] J.S. Allen, proprietor of the Garden Theater, where the new censor got busy last Wednesday night, still insists and 'insists' is putting It mildly that it was Mrs. Charles O. Francklyn, who was shocked into actlon. Mrs. Francklyn refuses to discuss silk stockings, or anything else, but her daughter, Miss Doris, persists with as much force as Mr. Allen insists that her mother had nothing to do with the sudden exit of the hosiery display. 'Why mother had no more to do with stepping those pictures than this poor little dog,' said Miss Francklyn. And she held up a white poodle, which barked vigorously in righteous indignation."

Charles Gilbert Francklyn died in 1929. He left Red Croft to his son Gilbert, who seems to have enjoyed the estate along with Doris for the rest of their lives; they died in 1957 and 1959. Neither married and are buried together in Southampton Cemetery, as are Charles and Susan.

The next notable owner was art connoisseur Paul F. Walter who bought the property in 1986. He collected everything from Mughal miniatures to British decorative arts, but is best remembered today as a pioneering collector of photographs. He was a renowned figure in the art world, befriending artists--for example, he sent Mapplethorpe the bunch of tulips that inspired his series of plant photographs--and donating works to major museums.

He had Redcroft (as it was now known) decorated by architect and interior designer Mark Kaminski in the late nineteenth century Arts and Crafts style, using museum-quality furniture and artwork, as well as layered William Morris pattern wallpapers.

The grounds were designed in the English style by landscape designer Deborah Nevins. And when Nigel Nicolson visited the house, he pronounced them the American equivalent of the gardens at Sissinghurst tended by his mother, Vita Sackville-West.

Mr. Walter eventually decided to downsize, selling Redcroft to Citibank executive Robert Buxton and wife Anne in 1999 for $4 million. Sadly, he died in 2017 and the best pieces from his collections were auctioned at Christie's.

The Buxtons lived at the property for some years, finally selling for $9 million in 2008. The current owner of the property, now known as Redcraft, had the interiors redecorated by eminent designer Steven Gambrel and the four acres of gardens redesigned by Perry Guillot. Now, hedges of copper beech and yew surround a walled flower garden. But the crowning glory of the property are the ancient specimen trees.

Today, the house is sleek and sophisticated from the sure hand of Steven Gambrel. The entry hall features rusticated walls that look like stone blocks; the dining room juxtaposes director's chairs with a gilt Chippendale mirror; and a gallery of black-and-white family photos are framed in red. Parrot green and red touches enliven the mostly neutral palette. In the extraordinary French art deco style master bathroom, Jacques Adnet sconces complement a steel fire surround found in Paris. Black, as always with Gambrel, is in evidence, with black painted ceilings and the designer's signature black kitchen, in this case lightened by antique benches from the estate of Bill Blass.

Redcraft has changed over the past 120 years, and no doubt will change again in the next 120, but it has always been and always will be extraordinary.

"Our place in East Hampton is my happy place," says Jesse Bongiovi, a fact that holds especially true when a glass of wine is in-hand. Bongiovi and his father, Jon Bon Jovi, launched their own rosé label in 2018--Diving into Hampton Water--which went on to be named Best Rosé of 2018 and #83 on the Top 100 among all wines by Wine Spectator. Bongiovi talks about his love of wine, his history of football and more.

Describe your perfect day on the East End. Wake up as early as I can, get to Georgica. surf for a couple hours, go home, have breakfast, hang out by the pool, barbecue, then go to my buddy's house, pregame, head to Surf Lodge at about 6 p.m., or Talkhouse around 10 p.m., and just go all night long. Suddenly it's 6:30 in the morning and I'm going right back to the beach for surf patrol.

Magnificent. That's the only word that comes to mind when the iron gates open and you proceed down the long allée of apple trees to Normandy House, with the serene blue waters of Lake Agawam beyond. It could almost still be the fabled years of the Southampton summer colony as you pass magnificent gardens and the charming outbuildings, which looks unchanged from those days.

Back in the 1920s, when Normandy House was built, Southampton society was slowly changing. The old guard Protestant society was being stormed by newly wealthy Irish, names known even today, such as Murray and McDonnell. (There was some pushback from the older families. "Oh, so you're a Catholic," said a Southampton lady to Mrs. Murray. "That's what my cook does on Sundays. She's taught me quite a lot about the Catholics.")

Judge Morgan O'Brien was the first of the rich Irish to build a Southampton summer home--he put up a house that looked like a yellow pagoda on Lake Agawam. Normandy House was built for his son and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth O'Brien. Designed in 1923 and constructed over a seven-year period, Normandy House (then known by the un-euphonic "Château O'Brien") was one of the French-style buildings put up by architects Polhemus & Coffin, known for their traditional French-style buildings in New York, as well as Long Island's Gold Coast and the Hamptons during the early part of the 20th century.

Normandy House is built on the site of another house that burned down, which belonged to Charles Barney of the banking house that later became Smith Barney. The driveway through the apple trees is actually shared with the neighboring house, Windswept, which was owned by AB Boardman, partner with the O'Briens in the law firm of O'Brien, Boardman, Conboy, Memhard & Early. Boardman sold his previous house, Villa Mille Fiori, to his law partner Judge Morgan J. O'Brien, when he had Polhemus & Coffin design Windswept for him.

Kenneth O'Brien seems to have been something of a Gatsby figure. The book Real Lace: America's Irish Rich describes him thus: "Extraordinarily handsome [...] He is said to have been the prototype of a character in O'Hara's Butterfield 8, the splendid-looking judge's son who is sent to Yale for social polish, and then to Fordham Law School to gain local political know-how. Kenneth O'Brien made a brilliant marriage--to Clarence Mackay's daughter, Katherine--and joined his father's law firm. But he drank too much; and was not too successful as a lawyer. [...] his drinking and high living led to his eventual divorce and early death."

The O'Briens were divorced in 1937 and Château O'Brien, later christened Normandy House after its style of architecture, was sold.

Today, one wonders what the O'Briens would make of the house's current up-to-the-minute glamorous interiors. By New York-based designer Tony Ingrao, they've utterly transformed the dignified old place. The busy wallpapers of the past, the swagged window treatments, the fussy chintzes--all have been swept aside in favor of soothing creams and statement modern furniture. The old-fashioned boiserie of the office area has been stained a striking black; the dining room's centerpiece is a stunning crystal sputnik chandelier with a nod to midcentury style. Of course, perhaps the best parts of the living areas are the beautiful views of the gardens, the lake and acres of lawn, all landscaped by Edmund Hollander.

One of the more pleasant aspects of the house is its livable scale. Unlike many new builds, there are no wasted, cavernous, empty spaces. There are five bedrooms upstairs-not a huge number these days (although, of course, you can always stash relatives in the guest house). All the bathrooms have been renovated with luxurious fittings, with a spectacular master bath with an enormous shower and soaking tub, and a smaller bathroom with marble penny-round tiling. Magnificent, charming, timeless indeed. 

Best-selling author Wednesday Martin's most essential accessory these days is neither her Birkin bag nor her iPhone. It's her fluorescent pink clitoris necklace. It could be easily confused for a Keith Haring figure or even a fishing lure to the uninitiated, but Martin uses the erotic sculptural bauble as a teaching tool and visual aid. Martin is notorious for her hilarious, wise and revelatory Primates of Park Avenue, a examination of the parenting practices of the extreme elite in the wilderness that is the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In her 2018 book, Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust and Adultery Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free, Martin uses anthropology and sociology--and some keen Hamptons observations and research--to deconstruct every cliché we have been taught about female sexuality.  

BTH: Describe the Hamptons in three words.

WM: Lush, louche and luxe 

BTH: Where do you spend most of your time in the Hamptons?

WM: We have had a house in Sag Harbor for years now. It's my stress relief. We go throughout the year, but I try to stay there the entire summer. 

BTH: Tell us about your latest work.

WM: For the last few years, I have been researching female consensual non-monogamy. Everything from the cliché that men have more of a libido than women to the prevailing scientific knowledge about the structural network of the clitoris. It's much larger than any of us were taught! I interviewed dozens of experts. I engage in participatory observation. I went to an all-female sex club called Skirt Club as research for Untrue. For Primates of Park Avenue, I went to PTA meetings and hung out at the playground.

The bridge between Untrue and Primates grew out of an article I did in The Observer called "Gay Until Labor Day," where women in the Hamptons in considerably heterosexual relationships were having affairs with their female trainers. Female sexuality is flexible. It was more than a few people who told me this and none of the experts I interviewed were surprised.

BTH: What are the best places for people watching in the Hamptons?

WM: I stay away from parties. At BookHampton you can observe the Hamptons power structure, and I love Sag Harbor because it doesn't have many chain stores. Buddha Berry is its own cross-section of Hamptons culture. Everyone from Carl Bernstein to the nanny who stole the husband last summer, add that to an environment where parents overindulge their children. It's like your head explodes. 

BTH: Give us your advice for a Wednesday Martin Hamptons experience.

WM: Prioritize your pleasure. As women, we punish ourselves calorie-counting and going to exercise classes.

Remember when brightly colored shag carpets, wallpaper borders and beanbag chairs were in vogue? With each passing year, home décor trends come and go, so keeping up with what's in and what's out can be difficult. Thankfully, our expert East End interior designers and home stagers are happy to share their 2020 predictions, helping us keep our Hamptons and North Fork homes looking trendy all year.

What's IN for East End homes in 2020?

We think there will be more color and floral or botanical themes introduced in fabrics and a continuation of sustainable fabrics and furniture as well as crypton-type performance fabrics, for easy cleaning and wearability. We see some painted cabinets for kitchens and gold and brass finishes for handles and plumbing fixtures. We'll continue to see deep soaking tubs in bathrooms and more integrated lighting--motion detector lighting under the vanity, for instance. We think stone will turn to warmer hues, using travertine and quartzite. For furniture, we see mid-century modern trending as it incorporates clean and simple lines reflecting our clients' need for simple life on the East End...However, we do see a mix of modern, eclectic and traditional pieces working together for a cohesive design.--Diane Bianchini, Dream Windows & Interiors

An eclectic mix of styles! Clean lines will still be important, but antiques or pieces with the appearance of age or patina will be mixed with the modern, creating a more welcoming environment...One of the new big trends I'm seeing is the use of jewel tones. Deeper blues and teals could start appearing on the East End, as the influence of the '70s is appearing in showrooms.--Shannon Willey, Sea Green Designs

We'll see more natural materials and earth tones used in design finishes and furnishings. Everything from lighting to furniture accents, which will include wood grains and light metals throughout the home. With a desire to connect with nature, what has been typically utilized in outdoor décor has moved inside the home.--Susan Orioli, NoFo Real Estate

The use of natural, modern and organic elements such as wicker, rattan, bamboo, metal, jute, sisal, natural stone and even driftwood table bases reminiscent of the '70s. Lots of texture! It's a softer, more curvilinear look than the modern trend we've seen in recent years...We've been in a flux time as far as metal finishes go. For example, cabinet and bathroom hardware and light fixtures have seen a trend from polished chrome to satin or brushed gold over the last few years. I still see black and bronze being popular as well. However, I predict this year we will see the use of mixed metal finishes.--Allegra Dioguardi, Styled and Sold Inc.

What's OUT for East End homes in 2020?

We think gray will finally be trending out, and farmhouse design has had its day.--Diane Bianchini, Dream Windows & Interiors

Gray floors are being replaced by white or natural stains and warm brown tones--same with furniture finishes and fabrics.--Shannon Willey, Sea Green Designs

A design trend that will be out on the East End is the traditional dining table in the kitchen or even the elimination of the formal dining room. Many homebuyers on the East End are seeking more relaxed, comfortable seating and a more casual eating space to feel relaxed, and, thus, they may opt to convert the formal dining room for another use. White subway tile has been overused recently in new builds and renovations, and it will become less popular in 2020.--Susan Orioli, NoFo Real Estate

I see a trend moving away from true grays and toward warmer neutrals such as beige, tans and warmer grays in 2020.--Allegra Dioguardi, Styled and Sold Inc.