Design Experts Talk Hamptons Style

With a reach far beyond the 40-odd-mile stretch of land between Westhampton Beach and Montauk, the Hamptons design aesthetic has come to symbolize casual luxury and sought-after style all over the world.

As part of the 43rd annual St. Ann’s House and Garden tour, a “Hamptons Style Today” symposium was held at the Silas Marder Gallery at Marders in Bridgehampton on Thursday. The style symposium was moderated by acclaimed interior designer and Press columnist Marshall Watson, and included three well-known and respected local designers, who gave their perspectives on Hamptons style. Interior designer Kerry Delrose, landscape architect Craig James Socia and legendary architect Harry Bates all weighed in on the subject of Hamptons style.

Mr. Delrose, an East Hampton resident who, as the head of Delrose Design Group, is known for his classic yet innovative designs, summed up what Hamptons style means to him and his clients: casual luxury. He reported that he has seen what he calls a “lifestyle evolution,” which began 25 years ago here on the East End and has really gathered steam in the last handful of years.

“Everybody sits on everything with swimsuits on ... barefoot ... nobody wears shoes in the summer,” he said. “It’s more casual than New York, less formal ... truly lived in.”

He added that even though the style here is more relaxed than it is in his clients’ more formal city homes, luxury is still at the top of the list when it comes to what people want.

“Everybody’s gaming up,” he said.

Two other major components that dictate many of his projects are clients’ desires to work around the best views in their homes, and, of course, carving out space for entertaining Hamptons-style.

“You need a large space that feels intimate for dinners for 20,” he said, adding that at-home parties are

de rigueur

for East Enders. “Almost everybody wants a space that’s great for entertaining.”

Mr. Bates, the founding partner of Sag-Harbor based Bates Masi + Architecture, and a pioneer in the world of modern design, said that he creates homes first and foremost for his clients (“It’s not my house,” he said when asked about “his” houses. “It’s their house. It’s always their house, from the start.”), and second, to embrace the natural surroundings of a particular property.

“Everything relates to the surroundings, at one with nature,” he said of his welcoming, livable, warm take on modern architecture.

But one can’t talk about Hamptons style, or Mr. Bates’s creations, without talking about the beauty of Hamptons light. During his talk, Mr. Watson asked Mr. Bates to comment on a remark the architect made about how “the artwork is outside here in the Hamptons.”

Mr. Bates replied that the famous Hamptons light greatly informs each of his designs.

“You don’t want the space to look the same 24 hours a day. And that’s the beauty of the light, it’s always changing,” he said.

The views, the light and the landscaping are all part of a home’s design, agreed Mr. Socia, one of the most sought-after garden designers on the East End. He said that he strives to create outside worlds that complement the physical structures on a property.

“The plantings reflect the architecture,” he said when describing a few of his local projects.

Other important things to consider when designing an East End garden are the climate and the wildlife here, he stressed.

“It’s deer-proof, as every garden in the Hamptons needs to be,” he said of one of the projects he discussed at the symposium.

But perhaps the most important take-away from his talk came from when Mr. Watson asked the landscape architect about his versatile design style, which was evidenced in the photos he showed during his presentation.

“I think gardens are like people,” he said simply. “They are reflections of whatever we do.”