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Habitat

Rumrunner Is Still Going Strong at 50

Fifty years after opening at Gosman's Dock in Montauk in 1971, the Rumrunner Home furnishings store has remained an East End fixture by capitalizing on the area's population boom, and surviving skyrocketing rents, ever-changing design trends, and competition from national brands.

May 27, 2021
In Sag Harbor, a House of Stories Is Between Chapters

That the former Morpurgo house, a.k.a. the Captain John Hulbert house, hadn't been sold yet amid the pandemic was serendipitous for its owners, Max and Michelle Breskin, who, with their three children, are its first legal occupants in many years. Once a wreck, now tip-top after a major restoration completed by Breskin Development, it is on the market for just under $6.5 million.

Oct 15, 2020
In Pandemic, They Made Home the Antidote

Anita Boyer and Joe Pallister had June marked on their calendar for nearly a year. Both of them mused on an intimate wedding at what they considered the most idyllic venue: Disney World.

"I am so obsessed with Disney," Ms. Boyer, a dance and acting coach, and co-founder of Our Fabulous Variety Show, said in a phone interview. "Both of my grandparents worked there. I grew up visiting all the time. I have Disney in my blood."

Sep 24, 2020
Right Down Santa Claus Lane

Lynn King was born on Thanksgiving Day, so, naturally, she likes Thanksgiving. But she flat-out loves Christmas — and her impressive collection of Santa Claus mugs is a testament to her holiday obsession.

Nov 27, 2019
Winter Wonderland

Local pros agree: The rules of good interior design are universal, even when it comes to decking your halls and swagging your walls with garlands, wreaths, and lights. Think “less is more” and the “rule of threes.” Think themes, like vintage or forest, and complementary color palettes.

Nov 27, 2019
Great and Small

Making your hurried holiday rounds, as you sprint off Main Street and into the Ladies Village Improvement Society’s Bargain Box thrift shop — recently renamed the Shops at the L.V.I.S. — you cannot fail to notice the octagonal dollhouse in the entryway. It is huge, standing tall at 5-foot-4, with nine rooms, two bathrooms, a basement, and an attic. When you pause to peek inside, you see how intricately it has been decorated, with festive details that change with the seasons.

Nov 27, 2019
Scrapbook Memories

Virginia Woolf was likely not talking about scrapbooks when, in her “A Writer’s Diary,” she advised the reader to “arrange whatever pieces come your way.” But this magpie sentiment surely fits the 19th-century notion of collecting the ephemeral bits of one’s life into albums that illustrated the scrapbooker’s personal world.

Nov 27, 2019
Dowager Inn

What’s a house without a story behind it? Just a structure. So what do you do if you find yourself living in new construction with plenty of character but no history? No story? Make something up.

Nov 27, 2019
Strategizing for House Guests

Guests, even beloved, dear, wonderful guests, make messes. Here in Amagansett on a holiday weekend in gorgeous eastern Long Island, guests produce not only crumbs on the countertops and hair in the showers, but also sand on the floors. (And often sand in those showers, too.)

Aug 29, 2019
The Byram House Is Homage to History

Adrian Devenyi and Ramona Albert embarked on a top-down interior renovation of their storied Sag Harbor house in 2018, and in their case, “top-down” included a tower about 40 feet tall, visible above high hedges and between tall, stately oaks on Jermain Avenue.

Aug 29, 2019
Paul Goldberger Speaks of Excess and Restraint

Paul Goldberger, who has been called America’s foremost architectural critic, first visited the East End nearly a half-century ago. In the mid-1980s, he became a part-time resident of Amagansett, and he’s kept a keen eye on local “progress” ever since.

Aug 29, 2019
Turning a Small House Into a Harbor Jewel

Britta Steilmann, who had visited the East End for almost half a century before settling here 24 years ago, is adept both as a manager who thinks creatively and a designer of living spaces.

Aug 29, 2019