There can be no doubt where this year’s Hampton Designer Showhouse is located.  Presented by Traditional Home to benefit Southampton Hospital, the Showhouse was rife with beachy references, both subtle and quite literate. 

The walls in almost every room are covered in grass cloth wallpaper, an iconic coastal wall treatment.  Sometimes the grass cloth is the room’s only coastal reference, such as the neutral wall coverings in Patricia Fisher’s elegant great room.  


On the other end of the spectrum, Brian Patrick Flynn went bold with a hot pink grass cloth for his happy den. 


Designers also layered in the coastal vibe with lighting and accessories.  

Immediately as you enter the house, Elissa Grayer’s foyer screams summer with a shell sailboat sculpture, nautical rope sconces and a classic Orkney Island chair.  


In the adjoining dining room by Barbara Page, a chandelier suggesting rattan  (a material often associated with summer) is a focal point.  

The rattan chandelier in Barbara Page’s dining room grabs your eye. Photography by Eric Striffler.

Page’s table is set with bamboo flatware and her room includes a console dressed with lamps that have palm tree bases, also evoking a coastal region.  And note that teal grass cloth wall covering.


Denise McGaha’s lovely bedroom nods to the beach with a shell adorned chandelier by Currey & Co and a coral sculpture on the desk. 


 Brian Patrick Flynn accessorized his den with lamps made from oyster shells and mirrors reminiscent of portholes on a boat. 


Other designers expressed pride of place with a quite literal take on the beach location. Scot Meacham Wood’s colorful and cheerful mudroom is packed with all you need to have fun in the Hamptons: a kayak, boogie board, croquet set and beach towels.   

Scot Meacham Wood’s mudroom is fun-packed, evoking joyful summer days.

Marlaina Teich’s beautiful kitchen includes a home for your pup where his biscuits spell out the names of towns in the Hamptons. 


Upstairs, Dyfari Interiors created a focal point in her master bedroom with an array of giant starfish behind the bed. 

Dyfari Interiors’ master bedroom is a serene space with coastal references.  You can almost hear the waves lap the shore as you shut your eyes.

And in Elise Som’s bedroom, she expressed the Hamptons’ natural beauty by focusing on its lovely green spaces inland from the shore.  Som devised a framed succulent piece and included a wall of plants in her room. 

Elise Som herself crafted the framed artwork of succulents.

In other rooms, the coastal references are much more subtle.  Robert Brown’s masculine library doesn’t scream beach, but if you take a close look at the artwork you will note one piece with a man in a bathing suit and another with a person swimming. 

Robert Brown’s library soothes with neutral tones of gray, white and black.

In Ovadia Design Group’s pool house terrace, Jack Ovadia created a sophisticated and dramatic space with his tree screen, trellis walls, black and gray upholstery with plenty of texture, and shiny brass accessories.  A closer look reveals a hit of red on the tabletop with coral napkin rings and a sea urchin sculpture.

Ovadia Design Group created a dramatic setting for beguiling outdoor dining.

Perhaps the most subtle reference of all may be a nod to the Hamptons’ reputation as the playground of the rich and famous, accomplished by Melanie Roy in her very glamorous basement recreation room.  In Roy’s space, the upholstery is covered in grey crushed velvet, the light fixture is a midcentury-style sputnik star and the pool table by Tresserra is made from luxurious wood and modern leather side pockets.  Evening wear, rather than wet bathing suits, seems like the appropriate attire here. 


The Hampton Designer Showhouse will be open to the public through Labor Day with daily hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission of $35.  It is well worth a day away from sand and sun.  Certainly the beach won’t seem far. 

Photo credits: If not otherwise noted, photos are by Lynn Byrne.