The moment Christina Blaustein awakens in her Amagansett house, she listens to the ocean. The sparkling surf, which she and her husband see beyond the dunes from the deck of their bedroom, beckons. “When I listen closely, I can assess the ocean and know right away if it’s sounding bigger, higher, meaner than I’m capable of surfing,” she says. As a board member of the Surfrider Foundation, the influential national nonprofit that seeks to protect beaches from pollution, climate change, and erosion, Blaustein admits to paddling out with her board into the roiling Atlantic waters year-round, even in the midst of January, when remnants of ice flows might be bobbing alongside her.
She and her husband purchased this new five-bedroom home near the beach, as a second home, soon after it was completed by architect Tommy Zung, who also develops spec residences. “I take a curator approach to development,” he says from his SoHo office. He, too, is a surfer (and Surfrider member) and respects the landscape and oceanscape too much to build just anything. “We design every home for its site,” he emphasizes, “with an ecological, passive sustainability focus.” Blaustein concurs, by saying, “Everything about this house Tommy designed is about an aesthetic connection to nature. Just as my life is tied to the ocean, so, too, is this house.”
When furnishing the rooms of the home, whose ceilings vault to 18 feet in some living areas, Blaustein did something few others might—she hired two close friends for the job, the interior design team of Tatyana Miron and Alexandra Pappas. The three women grew up together in Greenwich. “Some might shy away from hiring friends,” says Blaustein, “but when creating a home with people who you have this kind of longevity with, since childhood, they already know my sensibility and taste. I don’t have to explain what I’m looking for.”
A spectacular stone fireplace is a focal point of the living room.
The coffee table is by Felix Muhrhofer, and the Ralph Pucci sofa is covered in a fabric from de Le Cuona.
In the dining area, vintage Knoll chairs from The Antique & Artisan Gallery surround a table by Tori Golub.
Vintage Giancarlo Piretti chairs were a score from 1stDibs for the family room.
The childrens’ bedroom is anchored by a vibrant rug from Mark Nelson Designs.
The primary bath, with its dynamic views, features a soaking tub by Clearwater.
The first thing Blaustein did explain, though, to the design team and to Zung (who later added some decorative millwork), was: “Do not give me a Hamptons house.” By that, she was referring to the often muted, restrained, neutral, beachy décor that prevails in the region, despite its appeal in many homes. “Christina and her husband are both big collectors of art,” says Miron, “and they wanted furniture to be just as artful as what appears on the walls.” In response, the designers chose a variety of one-of-a-kind artisanal items—a multi-hued terrazzo coffee table by Austrian artisan Felix Muhrhofer, an asymmetrically striped fabric for a headboard from weaver Jess Feury, elaborate paper chandeliers from Stephen White, even a felted wool chicken created by The City Farm Girl of Kansas City that doubles as a seat or ottoman. “They’re open to and excited about design, about having their home be unique,” says Pappas.
Early on in the project, Blaustein gave them, as she says, “carte blanche, simply because I trust them.” As Pappas emphasizes, “For us, the best part of this project was that they were both willing to let us go down this path of commissioning artisans for special pieces, which sometimes requires a long wait.”
While Blaustein admits to not having an interest in choosing sofas or hardware, she is, as she declares, “fixated on color.” Miron and Pappas responded by creating a TV den/home office defined by a forest-green woven silk Claremont fabric on the walls and a green Brochier velvet on the couch. The designers even let the Blausteins’ then five-year-old son choose from among wallpapers they had selected. “They were so cute,” says Blaustein of Miron and Pappas, “in that they let my son decorate the room he shares with his younger sister. When they asked what color rug he wanted and he said ‘red,” they leaned into it. Whenever I got stuck in the process, I told them, ‘You decide.’”
While the tenor and temperature of the ocean waters change daily, the interiors of this home remain on a steady keel. “I feel proud of this project because we were given a great envelope,” says Miron. “And we were also able to add even more of a soulful, warm touch.”