Vintage Hamptons Cottage Near Bay 435K

NOTE: This house is also available for rent through Labor Day 2014. Contact caramia447@gmail.com for info.

A PERSON CAN ONLY LIVE in so many houses, and I find myself with one house too many.

My Springs (East Hampton, N.Y.) cottage, above and below, will be familiar to followers of this blog. I’ve owned it for four-plus years and have put an enormous amount of work, time, love, and money into both the house and the 4/10-acre property surrounding it. I’ve moved on to another project nearby, and need to cash in my chips on this one.

Here are the details, and if you can think of better adjectives than charming, sweet or adorable, please let me know.

BRIGHT AND BEACHY 2BR VINTAGE COTTAGE IN MOVE-IN CONDITION ON LANDSCAPED .41 ACRE.
SECLUDED BACKYARD BORDERED BY WOODS.
NEW PARKING COURT WITH JAPANESE-STYLE WOODEN GATE.
LIVING ROOM WITH VAULTED CEILING, SKYLIGHTS; OPEN KITCHEN/DINING WITH NEW APPLIANCES.
FRENCH DOORS LEAD TO SCREENED PORCH, HUGE DECK.
NEW COTTAGE-STYLE BATH OPENS TO SECOND DECK WITH ENORMOUS OUTDOOR SHOWER.
FULL BASEMENT WITH WASHER/DRYER.
NEW ROOF, EFFICIENT OIL FURNACE, NEW HOT WATER HEATER.
TAXES 1,700/YEAR.
WALK, BIKE TO MAIDSTONE BEACH.

Please forward to anyone you think may be interested. For more photos and info, email caramia447[at]gmail[dot]com

Come be my neighbor!

  

      

Springs Garden Report

“YAY, IT’S GONNA RAIN all weekend!” Only a gardener would say that. A gardener who, like myself, just put in two dogwood trees (a cornus kousa Chinensis in front, and a cornus Florida ‘Cloud Nine’ in back) as well as three red-twig dogwood shrubs I’d been coveting. It’s part of my plan to put some flowering trees on my Long Island property, and add some things for winter interest (the red twigs — fabulous against the snow).

The rest of the landscape can use some water too. It’s been a dry, nearly snowless winter, except for an 8″ dumping in January that melted within two days.

I’ve done a lot of compost-spreading on my perennial beds, exhausting my homemade supply and then making two trips to the Town of East Hampton’s inexhaustible free compost and mulch piles. You can see the new red-twig cornus alba Siberica in the upper left-hand corner, below.

One disappointment this spring: the apparent demise of two of the six boxwoods I planted last September as screening between my house and the one next door, below. They’ve gone almost completely yellow, and that can’t be good. I called the nursery where I bought them to see if I had any recourse; I don’t, because they didn’t plant them. They didn’t plant the other four either, which are doing fine, but that’s their policy, don’t ya know.  Following the advice of garden guru Margaret Roach, I’m not pruning out the yellowed stems just yet; she says to wait a bit, to see what’s really dead and what’s not.

I’ve been here a week-and-a-half and, as usual, it’s flown. I’m heading back to Brooklyn today, and in my absence, the screened porch will be repaired and painted — white, with a gray floor. The white includes the ceiling, which means the trompe l’oeil sky, below, painted thirty years ago by artist Randall Rosenthal, is going. I have mixed feelings about that, especially because Randy is my friend and neighbor, but it’s time.

It’s always hard to tear myself away from the peace of the country. It’s marginally easier when the rain is pounding down, as it is now. My sympathies to those who had yard sales, baseball games, picnics… weddings!… planned for this weekend, but… YAY! <Cheshire cat smile>.

AUGUST RENTAL: COTTAGE NEAR BAY, SPRINGS (EAST HAMPTON), N.Y.

WANT TO RENT my bright and comfortable 1940s cedar-shingled cottage in Springs, N.Y. (5 miles north of East Hampton village) August 1-31? It’s on a landscaped half-acre with a view into peaceful woods from the back deck.

The house is half a mile – a 10 minute walk, 5 minute bike ride, or 2 minute drive –from the beautiful, unspoiled, never-crowded Maidstone Beach on Gardiner’s Bay.

– 2BR (one full bed, two twins), 1 bath

– High ceilings, skylights, screened porch, huge deck, best outdoor shower ever

– ½ mile to Maidstone Beach, 1 mile to Louse Point (another spectacular beach on Accabonac Harbor). Superb swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, etc.

– 5 miles to ocean beaches at East Hampton and Amagansett

-Under 1 mile to Springs Historic District, including Jackson Pollock-Lee Krasner House and Springs General Store

– 10 minutes East Hampton Village, 10 minutes Amagansett, 20 minutes Sag Harbor, 25 minutes Montauk (restaurants, bars, stores, art galleries, historic houses, movies, etc.)

– 2-1/4 hours from NYC, barring traffic

– Washer-dryer in basement

– Flat-screen TV, DVD player, Wi-Fi, printer, iPod dock

– A/C in living room, ceiling fans in LR and MBR

– $7,000 August 1-31

To see more photos, go here. Email caramia447@gmail.com if interested in renting, or for more information. Thanks!

Lonelyville Charmer 649K

OF ALL FIRE ISLAND COMMUNITIES, each with its own beachy character, my favorite has to be Lonelyville. First of all, there’s that great name, which it seems is also the title of a bluesy number sung by Della Reese in 1958 (as well as an episode of Law & Order, seventh season).

Lonelyville is bohemian, a little off the beaten boardwalk. It doesn’t have its own ferry landing; Dunewood is the closest. There’s no grocery store or lifeguard stand.

I  have fond memories of spending a month in Lonelyville in the early ’80s, when my parents rented a cottage there. Vegetation was much sparser then. There were long stretches of sand between houses, some of which are old cedar-shingled cottages floated over on barges from the mainland.

Today, Kitty King, a real estate agent, showed my sister and me this hidden, 3BR oldie a short way from the ocean, with a spectacular pergola-covered roof deck. It’s just the kind of place I like — quirky, comfortable, oozing with charm.

The sellers have owned the house for 40 years. It’s been on the market for quite a while, apparently, and has already been reduced once. While 649K may seem a lot to ask for a house that can only be used part of the year, it is reasonable for Fire Island, where quite ordinary houses are priced in the 700’s and 800’s.

No house with birds and vines painted on the porch ceiling could possibly be ordinary.

For more info, go here.

Porch Season Approacheth

WHY IS IT I’m always drawn to the funkiest, most accessible decorating? Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought that by the time I attained the advanced age of – er, never mind – I’d be reading Architectural Digest. Instead, I’m still pining for Domino and Cottage Living.

Is it sour grapes because I can’t afford better? I think not. I probably could afford slightly better than the furnishings on these ultra-casual porches. It’s because I genuinely like them, with their paper lanterns and string lights and rattan furniture.

The California front porch, top, of filmmaker Maria Maggenti, is from one of Domino‘s last issues in early 2009. I had to scan the page itself from my tattered files, because it, along with a charming video tour of Maria walking us through her colorful abode, has been disappeared from the Internet. The chairs are IKEA, the sofa some make-do thing, but with the bright cushions and romantic drapes, it’s a place I’d be very happy to hang out.

I also like the porch, below, with its mismatched furnishings and sky blue painted floor, from a publication called Total Beach House, a spin-off of Coastal Living magazine, which I bought last year around this time. Hope they have a 2010 edition planned.

The last porch, below, is from Mary Emmerling’s Beach Cottages, and it’s right nearby in Wainscott, Long Island. It’s a very simple array of elements, elevated by deliberate placement and a notable lack of clutter.