The East Hampton Historical Society announces their 2013 House & Garden Tour, showcasing some of the finest examples of historic and modern architecture in the Hamptons.  This year’s tour – comprised of five unique homes – is scheduled for Saturday, November 30, from 1 to 4:30 p.m., with the Opening Night Cocktail Party on Friday, November 29 (6 – 8 p.m.)

The kick-off Cocktail Party takes place on the evening of Friday, November 29, welcomes in this year’s highly anticipated House Tour. This annual event, now in its 29th year, is traditionally held over Thanksgiving weekend, ringing in the East End holiday season. Whether your taste leans toward the charm of a classic, historic East Hampton “cottage” or the clean lines of modern architecture, this year’s tour has an enchanting combination of houses that are sure to delight.

“We believe it is the mix of architectural styles – from the turn of the century to today – that gives East Hampton its unique character and flavor,” says Richard Barons, the Executive Director of the East Hampton Historical Society.  “Our House Tour Committee has creatively selected five homes that uniquely express the spirit of living by the sea.  Different yet complementary, these private homes invite the viewer to take a ramble along the coast to ‘look inside’ some of East Hampton’s most alluring homes.”

Tucked away near the Village of East Hampton, lies a magical compound with incredible Japanese-inspired gardens, complete with a koi pond. In the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright, the main house offers spaces that open out to larger terraces and lawns as well as intimate gardens, reflecting the owner’s desire to live within the landscape. This sophisticated oasis also boasts both indoor and outdoor pools!

For the romantic at heart, a barn-of-a-house overlooking Georgica Pond, with ocean views beyond, contains actual timbers from Anne Boleyn’s 500-year-old grain barn (Kent, England).  The fields on which this house is set still possess the feeling of tilled land rolling down to the ocean, reminiscent of the days when East Hampton was a farming community.  As a nod to the controversial queen’s martyrdom, the library paneling matches that of Hever Castle, her childhood home.

When 2,100 square feet are enough, this gambrel style, two-story residence combines traditional Shingle Style details with contemporary interiors and a state-of-the-art mechanical system.  Designed by Bruce Siska, an East End architect, this newly renovated house offers all the charm of a classic East Hampton “cottage,” but with modern amenities and eco-friendly technology, including a high efficiency geothermal HVAC system.

Further rambling along the coast takes us to the Bluff Road Historic District, where a beautiful 19th-century house with a spacious wraparound porch offers views of the Atlantic Ocean.  Owned by an interior designer, attention to detail is evident in every room, including a full set of wicker furniture in its original condition from the 1920s that has been in the family for decades, having been moved from one of the Procter & Gamble mansions in Devon.

But the most unusual home on the tour this year may be the seaside hexagonal house nestled in the Napeague dunes – one of the greatest sites on the ocean in all of Long Island.  Owned by David Netto, a well-known interior designer who collaborated with the Meyer Davis Studio, this Amagansett house has a series of interlocking hexagons, with windows that take full advantage of the breathtaking ocean views.  Netto’s interior design inspiration was “ ’50s colonial – but sexy,” turning the hexagonal living room into a giant, magical wooden tent.

In accordance with tradition, the exact locations of these houses will be revealed to ticketholders the weekend of the event, thus heightening anticipation. “Dust off your walking shoes and take a stroll along the coast, see private homes, contemplate a Japanese garden, admire a connoisseur’s art collection, and even enjoy a house with 500- year-old beams traced back to Anne Boleyn’s property in England.  The East Hampton House & Garden Tour is the most wonderful fund-raiser of the holiday season!” said Joseph Aversano, the event’s chairman.

The Opening Night Cocktail Party will be held at the gracious home of Jack and LuAnn Grubman. Sited on a primordial dune, the Grubmans’ country house is tastefully hidden in Georgica, in the Georgica section of East Hampton Village. This capacious, Shingle-Style “cottage” started as an early 20th-century summer house and began to be expanded in the late 1950s.  Today, it is a beautifully massed example of the area’s most famous early summer architectural design.  Superbly constructed to represent a house expanding from generation to generation, the elegant exterior detailing and the masterful proportions of the interior spaces make this house one of the village’s most lovely homes – a welcoming abode from which to toast the 2013 East Hampton House & Garden Tour.

Tickets to the Opening Night Cocktail Party are $200, which includes entry to the House Tour the following day.  Tickets to the self-guided 2013 East Hampton House & Garden Tour are $65 in advance and $75 on the day of the tour.  All ticket proceeds benefit the East Hampton Historical Society.

Tickets can be purchased via:

EHHS office at 101 Main Street Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
website: www.easthamptonhistory.org
phone: 631-324-6850
Clinton Academy, 151 Main Street, on Friday, November 29, and Saturday, November 30, between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.