A Montauk ‘Summer House’ That’s Not In Montauk

A trailer for the upcoming show sets the mood:

When a group of beautiful and successful New Yorkers leaves the comforts of the Big Apple behind to party the summer away in their home away from home, nothing is off limits," it declares as the characters blow off steam in the swimming pool, the jacuzzi, on the kitchen table and in the four bedrooms ("Weiners are out!" one exclaims).
"Bravo's new series 'Summer House' takes the beach town of Montauk, New York, by storm, while following a group of nine friends who make the exclusive enclave their go-to party spot between Memorial Day and Labor Day," the trailer continues.

The truth is that the house isn’t in Montauk, and share houses are not permitted in East Hampton Town. And there’s no wild and raucous partying going on at the moment.

Two Christmas wreaths quietly adorn the gate to the 4,500-square-foot homestead set in a remote and somewhat desolate spot on Napeague Harbor Road in Amagansett. Instead of being filled with intoxicated frolickers, the swimming pool in all likelihood has been drained for months.

Welcome to Winter House—the late-December version of the home that stars in “Summer House,” a Bravo reality show set to premiere on January 16. Much of the series was filmed at the rental home, given that the show follows nine sexually energetic young New Yorkers who rent a share house for the summer, ostensibly in Montauk.

"So, what makes Montauk so special?" the trailer posits. "Everyone's heard of the Hamptons. That's like your mom's friend who wears pearls," explains one young male character. "Montauk is like your mom's friend's daughter — who's a little promiscuous. And by a little, I mean a lot."

This “Jersey Shore” vibe is precisely what Montauk locals and merchants, as well as East Hampton Town officials, hope not to broadcast to potential visitors. After Bravo's trailer was released early this month, Laraine Creegan, executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, told The Press that the show does not represent the chamber’s efforts to encourage families, rather than party animals, to vacation in Montauk.

“We did not embrace that particular show for a couple of reasons,” she said. “Number one, share houses are illegal anywhere in East Hampton, including Montauk,” she said.

Given the premise of the series, the filming of the show over the summer was not without its own controversy, and the town turned the filmmakers down when they wanted to use town-owned Kirk Park Beach in Montauk, saying July was busy enough without the disruption of a film crew on public property.

Paul Monte, president of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, expressed his dismay on Facebook as well back in July, asking residents to make it known to town officials that the show’s images of drunken debauchery were “not the image of Montauk we want to promote.”

This week East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said that he, like Ms. Creegan, has seen the trailer for the Bravo series.

“I despise the message,” the supervisor said. “From the trailer that I saw and given the issue we’ve been dealing with in Montauk, the message is contrary to what Montauk is about.”

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