One of our favorite holiday events is East Hampton Historical Society’s house and garden tour. The self-guided tour is scheduled for Saturday, November 24, from 1 to 4:30PM. And don’t miss the kick-off cocktail party on the evening of Friday, November 23, which will be held at the historic Maidstone Club.
One of the five distinguished homes on the tour is this modern glass box by Michael Lomont of Stelle Lomont Rouhani, which makes the most of a compact site on Bluff Road, Amagansett.
Interior designer David Netto says of the house, “To very loosely paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is the lesson: Never, never, never settle for a boring house. Respect the box, but never let modernism harden into a doctrine that stops people from being comfortable or from living the way they want to. It may be the architect’s mission to create a crisp, minimal envelope, but it is the decorator’s job to find ways to add mood and sensuality, even through illusion. This is because many clients have modern taste, but most of them don’t really want to live in an architectural manifesto.”
“The house is very warm,” its owner says. “It feels inhabited. You could take the stuffiest Upper East Side couple–which we have done–and they don’t even notice that it’s modern.” Netto adds, “This could be good news or bad news, depending on whom you ask, but it means all kinds of people feel at home here, which to me is what good decoration should always be about, no matter the style.”
Tickets to the tour are $65 in advance and $75 on the day. Tickets to the opening night cocktail party are $200, which includes entry to the house tour the next day. Tickets can be purchased at the EHHS office at 101 Main Street Tuesday – Saturday, 10 – 3:30, via the website, phone (631-324-6850), or at Clinton Academy on November 23 and 24 between 10 – 3:30.
