OUR HOME IN THE HAMPTONS

Hi there!

Today I thought I’d give you a tour of our home in the Hamptons.

Well, if truth be told it’s not really “our” home. It was our rental home for one week, and was the place we hosted a wedding rehearsal dinner for our son Adam and his bride Alissa.

My now daughter-in-law grew up in Southampton, something that is somewhat unique, as the majority of Hamptons residents are part timers. It is a favorite getaway destination for city dwellers, and is where well heeled New Yorkers escape during the summer months. With its scenic vistas and wide, sandy beaches, it has long been a popular summer playground for New Yorkers.

Our kids wanted to get married in Alissa’s hometown, so we decided to rent a home for our extended family and closest friends. We found a beautiful rental home on VRBO.com where we not only resided for the week of the wedding, but it was also where we hosted the wedding rehearsal dinner. So come on along and I’ll show you our home in The Hamptons.

The house sat at the end of a long gravel driveway that is lined with trees and an expansive front lawn.

We enjoyed watching the resident deer enjoying the grounds as well.

And our son Austin enjoyed feeding carrots to the friendly horses that resided next door.

Come on inside and let me show you around.

As you enter the front door there is a living area with an adjacent sitting area.

Although there is a table in the space, because of its location, which is not close to the kitchen, I doubt it gets used as a dining area.

Let me apologize right now for the mix of daytime and evening photos. I realized in putting this post together that I needed to use a mix of both in order to give you a complete tour of the home. That’s because after our flight from Los Angeles to New York, and our 2 hour drive from JFK airport to Southampton, we arrived at the house after dark. I took photos of the house upon our arrival, before anyone had a chance to mess it up.

Just past the living area was the all-white kitchen. The backsplash was actually mirrored, something I have never seen before. While it was attractive it was highly impractical.

There was an informal dining area adjacent to the kitchen…

which then opened up into the family room.

The two photos placed side-by-side below give you a better idea of the layout.

French doors opened onto the patio and pool.

And voila, it’s daytime again!

See those hedges surrounding the pool. They are called “Privet” and can be seen everywhere around the Hamptons and are used extensively for privacy hedging. Since I live in the west where Privet cannot be found in any nursery I frequent,  I was not aware of this very useful form of vegetation until I visited the Hamptons. Ya learn something new every day. Alissa’s mom explained that there is actually a hierarchy as Privet goes. Some folks use a cheaper form of Privet and don’t maintain it very well, thus it becomes spindly, unhealthy and not as private. Others pay considerable attention to maintaining the health of their Privet, thereby insuring their privacy as a result. Who knew? In any case I think it’s a fabulous bush and plan to look into using it here on our mountaintop where I imagine it might be cheaper, and more attractive than installing a fence.

Stepping back inside let me show you upstairs.

This is the master bedroom that Brad and I enjoyed during our stay. The owner of this home shares my affinity for 4 Poster Beds and has 2 of them in her house. I was glad 1 of the 2 was in the Master Suite.

This comfortable sitting area was tucked into a nook in the bedroom.

The master bath had a trough sink. Notice how it was placed in front of a window, necessitating that the mirror be placed over the window. Not ideal, especially since the mirror was so small.

I did find time to use the soaking tub once during our stay. It’s a luxury I don’t usually afford myself at home.

Here’s the other 4 poster bed, located in an upstairs guest room. I loved the natural sheer curtains that draped it.

This room had french doors that opened onto a porch…

that had a lovely view of the horse pastures nextdoor.

Somehow I failed to take a photo of the 3rd upstairs bedroom. But heading back downstairs you find the 4th bedroom. It connected to the only bathroom downstairs which was lovely but again, I failed to photograph.

We shared our rental home with 3 sets of friends who came to town from Phoenix, AZ, Lake Arrowhead, CA, and Newport, Rhode Island. One morning we enjoyed Bloody Mary’s on the back porch before heading out to explore Southampton.

Southampton is a bedroom community with a charming downtown that is home to some very nice shops and restaurants. Our rental home was a short drive to the beach…

where I took a walk with two of my girlfriends, Cindy and Lori.

Some of the most expensive real estate in the world lines these beaches, and it was fun to be a bit of a voyeur…

checking out the beautiful homes as we walked along the beach. It is interesting to note that you won’t find a lot of tourists like us plying these beaches. That’s because Southampton does not allow anyone but residents to park at the beach. An ingenious way to keep out the unwashed, and voyeurs such as myself. I guess if I really did have a house in The Hamptons I’d be all in favor of permit parking as well.

Returning home later that evening we enjoyed cocktails on the front porch before dinner.

What wonderful memories, both of an enchanting wedding and a week enjoying The Hamptons with good friends and family. Stay tuned and in my next post I’ll be sharing much more of The Hamptons with you, including: How to Host a Hampton’s Style Wedding Rehearsal Dinner .You might also like: 8 Lessons I learned Renting a House in The Hamptons.

So there you have it: OUR HOME IN THE HAMPTONS

Thanks for dropping in!  Do please leave a comment below.  I’d love to hear from you!

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