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I just took a trip out to Napa for an installation and was struck by how much the regions of Napa and the Hamptons bear more than a passing resemblance.
These two areas, known as wealthy resorts, do share similar sensibilities. In fact, upon returning from St. Helena, California, I was shopping for my Ludlow cheeses at Lucy’s Whey in East Hampton when I fell into a familiar conversation that I have experienced in both regions.
Catherine of Lucy’s Whey said, “Marshall, I know you like these local cheeses, but have you tried this Napa goat cheese?”
I replied, “Funny you should ask. I just returned from there.”
Catherine responded with exploding enthusiasm, “I love Napa, I would just love to live there six months of the year and here six months of the year!”
And so it has gone in countless conversations I have had over the last several years, as I have indeed luckily worked in both areas. Though, of course, the East End is my home. Both of the weekend and seasonal escapes share a rich agricultural history, a rich architectural history and a lion’s share of the very rich. Napa and the Hamptons have always represented the resplendent good life that has emerged from humble, stalwart and sometimes nefarious beginnings. And both are bathing in the evermore rarefied regional cuisine and viniculture celebrating along with “localvores” the quality bounty that they themselves produce.
I cannot walk down the streets of Healdsburg or Yountville, California, or Bridgehampton or Southampton here on the East End, and not want to eat myself into a gourmet stupor.
Both areas share magnificent typographies, which are jealously guarded by zealous zoning codes; accentuated by talented landscape designers; and visionary farmers, gardeners and vintners. The air in Napa is freshly scented by jasmine and crushed grapes while ours is peppered with clethra, privet and cleansed in salt spray.
And no one can deny the sensuality of each region’s light—Napa’s creamy, soft glow and the East End’s luxurious radiance.
Though each area enjoys its own unique building style and technique, what is called out for both regions is quality. It’s not simply because of the earthquake or hurricane regulations that require quality, it is the aesthetic taste and a pursuit of authenticity not seen elsewhere in the country.
In Napa, the Tuscan influence has elevated glazed-iron doors and windows to Giacometti-inspired heights with the thinnest of rails and stiles, tight seals, integrated caulking and a balance that a structural engineer would admire. These doors, though seemingly specific to the Napa Valley, are made in places as far flung as Elmira, New York, and Watts in Los Angeles. On a side note, hand-wrought hardware teaches me that the iron monger is not a lost craftsman, but a thriving, advancing, adventuresome artisan.
Within the framework of the seaworthy shingle style, our East End homes are seeing a resurgence of the truly custom-made window and door manufacturers as well, where traditional double-hung windows include the actual sash weights and chains that allow the windows to rise with a flick of your fingertip. Sensitive to more slender muntin bars and refined silhouettes, these handcrafted windows and doors, locally customized in Bridgehampton, are a pleasure to install.
The restrained but luxe sensibility of the Napa aesthetic has demanded that walls be stuccoed smooth as a baby’s bottom with a powdery finish. Integrated colors of ochre, chamois, pomegranate and soft sage radiate a sun-bleached warmth. And a resurgence of layered, square terra-cotta shingles is an interesting reprieve from the ubiquitous rounded Italian roof tiles.
Napa architects are acknowledging the influence of the Italian wine country motifs but they are running with it and making it their own while stretching the boundaries of brick, stone, iron and tile. They respect their European influences, cherry-picking the lye bleached floors here, the hand-hewn and checked beams there, thick stone lintels overhead and worn limestone saddles underneath. Yet this inspiration is integrated into sleeker, clean-lined spaces.
This edited, clean-lined approach is by all means copacetic with the Hamptons outlook, which also leans toward the elegantly casual. It is here that spare seems preferable to cluttered, and loose slipcovers seem to win over tight fitting fabrics (more, I suppose, is left for the imagination).
Fabrics that consist of linen weaves of visible flax, small checks, plaids, stripes and hound’s-tooth textures and faded color by far outweigh the prints. Like clothing, the rumpled linen look with a dash of raw silk for a tiny jewel-toned explosion is quite prevalent.
Furnishings of rough woods, industrial metals, zinc burlap and bleached dry surfaces seem appealing to both areas and are used with frequency. It is interesting that the new Restoration Hardware catalogue is coming out with just this style—all influenced by life in Napa and the Hamptons!
By all means, the Hamptons and Napa have led the country in the cutting-edge world of relaxed elegance and leisure living. So it is no wonder that I have frequently heard the longings from both coasts to visit and dwell in each other’s environs.
Contrary to what the rest of the world might think, it is not at all the shared reputations of glitz, glamour, limos and licentiousness that the reality shows grant us that we hold in common. It is instead the innovative, forward-thinking design aesthetic that is artistic, edited, adventurous, astute and experienced that binds the two regions together.
Marshall Watson is a nationally recognized interior and furniture designer who lives and works in the Hamptons and New York City. Reach him at 105 West 72nd Street, Suite 9B, New York, NY 10023.
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