Up-Close Views
of the
East Hampton House & Garden Tour, 2022
benefiting the East Hampton Historical Society
walking to this house on the East Hampton House & Garden tour, we are struck by all the beautiful, important houses here- these are unique, examples of early American architecture in the Village of East Hampton.
The tour allows a unique glimpse into
The infamous "White House"
adorned in Summer with red geraniums originally facing the pond, the White House was moved back from the road and turned in 1909
Circa 1725
16 Woods Lane
The White House
and
photographs by Gabby Stephenson
We enjoyed the fun and festive Cocktail Party at the Maidstone Club on Friday evening where I saw some of my favorite friends in the design-industry. The next day (four of us from my team) embarked on a journey to see up-close five historic homes and gardens in East Hampton. This being the 37th annual year was a special one with some of the most iconic and important historical homes from the community on the tour, and over 800 attendees were on the tour and being sold out the day before the event. It's worthy to note that all proceeds from this annual event benefit the East Hampton Historical Society and their museums and vital educational programming.
Today, we dive into the wonderful "White House" which has been one of our favorite homes in the East End- the house recently changed hands to new homeowners in 2020. The house was built as a clapboard original-Georgian mansion (7,600 square foot) with beautiful columns, dormers and on almost 3 acres of land behind the house. Locals love the home which is one of the first grand homes motorists see entering East Hampton village on the approach to the Village's grand Duck Pond. An air of mystery has swirled around this place which dates back to 1725, and it was originally known as the Jeremiah Obsorne House, after the Captain and slave-owner who built the Georgian-style home.
In 1906, the owners lifted the house up, rotated it 90 degrees to face Woods Lane (it used to face the pond) and move it way back off the road to protect if from flooding. Over the years, additions included roof dormers which gave it a more Colonial Revival aesthetic. In the 1990's it was renovated by Fred Mengoni into a Versaille-esque palace of sorts. Mengoni popularized the house with the locals because it became known for the beautiful Christmas lights adorning the house and grounds in winter and red geraniums in the window boxes in the summer.
We were excited to see the inside, and my team came along to take photoraphs and weigh on on their favorites of this iconic home. The house boasts a 53-foot pool with pool house, gazebo, three car garage, tennis court and formal French gardens with an elaborate fountain. In 2020, a couple with small children bought the house and have since pared it down to what they call "country elegant" style and now boasting gas lanterns flickering in the driveway an elegant but less fussy design aesthetic with a pared down black, white and wood color palette which seems to highlight the French-style of the garden and interiors and complementing this great American home and style. We are grateful for a peek into this East End beauty!
clean lines, a black & white palette, natural wood and stone and a new modern staircase allows the "good bones" of the architecture to shine!
Our Takeaway- it's a gorgeous house and with the landscaping, grounds and new interior design it holds a French style complementing the American style of the architecture. The interior design is simple and edited allowing the architecture to sing. We'd love to see it again when a homeowner has lived in it awhile and the interiors hold a bit more patina and possibly more nuanced personality with art and accessories, but we all agree the design is quite refreshing.
