Sag Harbor Is A Shopper’s Winter Wonderland

On a bone chillingly damp Saturday, I sought out an afternoon of foraging some last minute accessories.

China, glassware and napkins were among my clients’ wish list, and the thought of searching these out in the usual department store venues was not in the stars nor my locale. Instead I landed in Sag Harbor to rediscover, to my delight, that luxury shopping is not the sole jurisdiction of high-end, name-brand pop-up stores that have littered our main streets recently.

A burgeoning group of distinctly committed and selective shop owners have chosen to present limited but delectable items, difficult to find elsewhere, (including Manhattan) and specifically geared toward the casual, subdued elegance indigenous to the Hamptons lifestyle.

Bloom, an outpost in a charming clapboard cottage on Madison Street, features a scrubbed austere elegance that weathers well. Amongst patinated worn Swedish cupboards, tables and benches, owner Mona Nerenberg offers enormous hand-blown cylindrical candle hurricanes whose glass undulations mimic the seaside currents.

With plump greige linen dog beds, to angular cutting boards, to overscaled hand-woven English basketry, nothing in this charming store seems unfiltered or by chance. Hand-woven cream starched linens hang close at hand and tin pots of English tea are packaged wondrously simple.

Overscaled pitchers of the thinnest Italian blown glass sit in the window. These honest pure shapes beckon to hold the first quince blossoms.

The shapeliest bottle of richly hued olive oil sits firmly upon the rustic shelves housed in a barn across a jumbled brick patio. An iron potbelly stove stokes up a warmly inviting ambience as the grey winter light sifts through Bloom’s century-old windowpanes.

Do not hesitate to venture out on these wintry and pre-spring weekends because these cozy Sag Harbor purveyors welcome you with glowing fireplaces and (for the moment) uncrowded shops. And at this time of year, they are not yet harassed by the summer maelstrom.

When you stop across Madison street at Monc XIII, you step into a remarkably special boutique. Natasha Esch has invested both her formidable talent and exquisite taste in this environment, which is not to be missed.

A refined, simple fireplace crackles with stacks of flaming logs and an architectural staircase rises to an open loft. A straightforward nostalgic kitchen houses Mason jars filled with Sheffield silverware (so atmospheric), sparkling in the front windows.

Much of Monc XIII is stocked with items of impeccable provenance.

The artisans from Cire Trudon Candles, which are sold at the shop, were appointed apothecary distillers by the Court of Louis XIV and later became suppliers of candles to Napoleon. The bottle-brown glass cups emblazoned with embossed gold cartouches are fabulous alone, but then you lift the scenting bell jar that encases their fragrance and at once grasp a whiff of what the French are famous for.

A sleek, chic record player plays scratchy soft music in the background while one examines the thick macramé cashmere throws swathing the iron ladder. Slightly kooky antiques and lithe mirrors scatter themselves amongst retro Scandinavian modern. Full tang and anchored tang knives attached to handles of ox horn or boxwood glide into lithe sheaths of bleached beech that contain magnets, which attract other sheaths, thus creating personalized knife blocks. Rush to this store.

Low Country-style “Dutch à La Mod” suffuses the Madison Street shop JANGEORGe. Here there’s a curated collection of high-end design furniture, accessories and lighting.

Wearable art totems gather above a Gervasoni headboard and Ivano Redaelli linens and blankets. There’s also an innovative “paper” buffet, from the Dutch design company M000I, which stands monumental. Fine bone china, practically transparent in its X-ray-thin eggshell finish, inspires fine eating. Creams, beiges and greiges refreshingly define Jan’s and George’s Netherlands affinity with the East End sensibility.

Christy’s Art Center, also on Madison Street, an eclectic stalwart, charmingly continues under the uniquely Northern European vision of its owners, Michael and Elfi Eicke. Their son, Maximilian Eicke, exhibits his art furniture, which is collected even by museums, here at reasonable prices.

This family embraces Sag Harbor as their home, their refuge and their inspiration. We are so lucky to be embraced by their vision and community participation.

Soaked by the misty showers and chilled by the whipping winds, I satiated and toasted my great finds inside LT Burger for lunch. Then I headed for Ruby Beets Old & New on Washington Street.

This store boasts a bohemian collection of art, antiques and collectibles, both modern and sentimental. From very modern plastic wastebaskets, to a turned and twisted skyline of ebony jars, there is a feast of objects and ideas populating the densely packed boutique.

When the other villages showcase empty storefronts—the result of the desertion of the summer pop-ups—I would advise to pay a delightful visit to Sag Harbor local shopkeepers, who are plying their unique visions all the year long.

Warmed by their fireplaces, stoves and engaging hospitality, a wintry weekend shopper will find not only objects, accessories and furnishings inherently appropriate to the East End lifestyle, but also the most unique, luxurious gifts for the most discerning of friends. Enjoy the charming architecture, the excellent restaurants and edgy village allure of Sag Harbor’s intellectual and discerning milieu.