CULTURED’s July and August Hamptons issues, guest edited by artist Joel Mesler and interior designer Kelly Behun respectively, take you inside the studios, homes, and workplaces of the enclave’s most interesting creators. Here are their selections of the best the area has to offer.
To Listen
"Itzhak Perlman founded the summer residency program on Shelter Island for young string players from all over the world. They put on FREE concerts throughout the season. We have had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Perlman perform with students many times. GO! This is a life-changing experience."
—Christine and John Gachot, designers and founders of Gachot Studios
"Anytime the jazz composer and bassist Iris Ornig is playing, I try to go."
—William Norwich, writer and novelist
To Work
"I wrote much of my first book, The Accidental Bond, in the John Steinbeck Writers Room at what is now the Stony Brook Southampton campus and my second, A Member of the Family, on the third floor of the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor."
—Susan Scarf Merrell, author
To Browse
"'A Summer Arrangement,' an exhibition of around 100 works by 34 artists installed at LongHouse Reserve and curated in collaboration with the art and design fair Object & Thing (through September 3)."
—Margaret Carrigan, writer
To Visit
This season I am particularly excited to take my children to the Thomas Moran House in East Hampton—and to explore the early history of artists on the East End.
—Sarah Wetenhall, hotelier
"The Atlantic Double Dunes Preserve."
—Joe Nahem, design principal, Fox-Nahem Associates
"LongHouse Reserve is a garden and house that exemplifies a life informed by nature and design, lived in harmony, and not necessarily expensive. The Walking Dunes in Montauk are an environment unique to this one place, with knockout views mingled with tiny moments of joyful beauty."
—Edwina von Gal, landscape architect and founder of Perfect Earth Project
To Read
"My favorite reading spot is Gibson Ranch in Sagaponack, but any beach will do!"
—Susan Scarf Merrell, author
To Sunbathe
"Georgica Beach! I love going with my son and reading a good book, if he lets me."
—Lili Buffett, wealth advisor
To Birdwatch
"Shelter Island is on a migratory path and provides a summer home for an array of bird species, from bald eagles and ospreys to piping plovers and hummingbirds. Look up!"
—Christine and John Gachot
To Shop
"White Flower for very beautiful, special flowers from Nathaniel Savage."
—Amy Astley, editor, Architectural Digest
"Kirna Zabête because they curate the perfect mix for real life. Beth Buccini has designers I love, plus a mix of new and unexpected treasures."
—Sarah Wetenhall, hotelier
Returning to Sage & Madison for its second East End summer residency is the renowned Los Angeles vintage retailer Decades. Peerless pieces from labels like Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Hermès, and Valentino will be on offer, and this year they’re also hosting weekly pop-up boutiques featuring Etro, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jil Sander, Marni, and more (through September 4).
—CULTURED Editors
Is summer even summer without Orlebar Brown? The brand’s East Hampton boutique beckons with the bright colors and bold patterns of its latest Flights of Fantasy collection. And while perusing new renditions of the Bulldog shorts and Ridley shirts, take note that many of these looks are carbon-balanced.
—CULTURED Editors
To Smell
"Lindens smell great and are salt tolerant. London planes are still one of the most salt-tolerant shade trees to grow out east. Cape myrtle can be trained as a bush or a tree. Thanks to global warming, East Hampton is now a 7b hardiness zone, so this Southern plant thrives."
—Edmund Hollander, head of Hollander Design Landscape Architects of New York and Chicago
"I love getting flowers from local farms and foraging, if there’s ever time and energy for it."
—Arthur Golabek, floral designer
"First up will be our peonies, followed by the roses that grow on our house and garage and the wisteria on our pergola. All other flowers bloom later."
—Liz Lange, fashion designer
To Escape the Crowds
"I especially love getting away from the frenzied pace every once in a while and going to one of these unique and tranquil places: the Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs, and the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack."
—Eden Williams, art advisor
To Anticipate
"The new project I’m most excited about out here, though, is Reed and Delphine Krakoff’s new house on the ocean near me in Napeague. It’s modern, but like an Antonioni movie. There’s never been another house like it here."
—David Netto, interior designer
To Ride the Wave
"Our custom resin-coated surfboards, which we make ourselves. People often think that the surfboards are made from marble, because of the technique we use."
—Temidra Willock Morsch, co-founder of home-decor shop Hidden Gem
To Remember
"People get so much enjoyment out of being out East in the summer, but [they] also need to support year-round businesses here and be conscious of the entirety of the Hamptons population—the farmers, the fishermen in Montauk, the artists who live here full-time. It’s important to leave a place better than you found it."
—Tripoli Patterson, founder of Tripoli Gallery
