For her own residence in Water Mill, Carolyn Pressly sought reminders of her girlhood home in North Carolina, while staying true to the life she shares with her husband in the Hamptons. For the floor of her master bedroom and dressing area, she used lumber from a 175-year-old tree on her grandfather’s North Carolina property, which had been blown over by a storm. “Every time I walk on the pickled oak floor, I think of the history and family heritage underneath my feet,” says Pressly. Among the home’s notable achievements is the entryway, which Pressly conceived as an English library. For judge Tim Street-Porter, the rooms are “pleasing spaces, well furnished, and charming.”
Although the husband-and-wife clients do not live in Water Mill full time, they have been thinking about retiring there. So the design directive was to make the place feel like a year-round home. The resulting look, which judge Robert Stilin refers to as “fresh, edited,” and with a “nice flow,” features an inviting, light-filled living room, sumptuously appointed dining room, a family room with a bar, sectional seating area, and game table, and four guest rooms, with whimsical art throughout to personalize the spaces.
Yes, this is a decidedly traditional shingle-style house, but as judge Milly de Cabrol points out, designer Tamara Magel’s ability to “bring the city into this beachfront residence” makes for quite a statement, thanks to the grays and beiges of the wallpaper and paint, coupled with limestone parchment. Key pieces of classic 1960s furniture are positioned so that each becomes a kind of sculpture in the rooms, complementing a noteworthy art collection that includes a large-scale Richard Serra in the living room and multiple works by Hans Hofmann in the dining room. The interiors are “balanced and thoughtful,” says judge Tom Scheerer, and foster “a serene overall atmosphere.”
