Hamptons Cottages and Gardens (April/May 2003) 

“Charting a Course” 

Between ocean and bay in Bridgehampton, decorators Kenneth Alpert and Andrew Petronio create a boldly beachy getaway. 

            “I have to tell you the truth,” says designer Kenneth Alpert in a confidential tone, “I did get a little obsessed with this seashell thing.” The ‘seashell’ thing is what this Bridgehampton house, nestled between bay and ocean, is all about. It is also what inspired Alpert and Andrew Petronio, a principal at Kenneth Alpert and Associates, as they went all out to create what may well be the most boldly beachy house in the Hamptons.

            As with many of Alpert and Petronio’s projects (one of Alpert’s early commissions was a color-filled house for Mary Tyler Moore), this is no retiring seaside shack. Strong silhouettes, bright hues and vibrant patterns are hallmarks of the firm. For these clients, Howard and Lannie Lipson, Alpert Petronio had decorated a main residence- a traditional affair in Westchester with a formal French living room and a dark-red, English-style dining room. The homeowners’ mandate for the Hamptons was simple enough: give us a beach house!

            “This place is all about the Hamptons,” Petronio explains. “It’s whimsical and child-friendly. Peter Cook did the architecture and some of it helped dictate a kind of whimsy, like the existing rope railing along a staircase and the porthole windows which open to interior rooms.”

            Adds Alpert, “The clients showed us some pictures from magazines and together we developed a theme around seashells. We incorporated that in so many applications- in moldings, on mirrors, in fabrics, in mosaic tiles, almost throughout the whole house. Then basically we took it from there. We had worked with them already for so many years, and they gave us carte blanche.”

            There was one caveat: This was November and the Lipsons wanted their house finished by Memorial Day. “She said, ‘Come Memorial Day, I want it done.’” Petronio recalls. “And when she moved in it was done- down to the candies in the candy bowl, the towels, the soap dishes, the shell candlesticks on the coffee table.”

            On top of all that, she decided to host her first dinner party of the season on Memorial Day. “We had just finished getting the napkins for the event,” Petronio adds. “We even bought the floral centerpieces, and of course incorporated shells into the arrangements.”

            A lot went on in those months in between, with Alpert and Petronio always having sea and sand on their minds. “I was on vacation in France and I saw this blue-and-white seashell fabric that I had to buy,” Alpert continues. “We ended up using it on the sun porch. Back home I’d be leafing through a catalog and I’d see some kitchen canisters with seashells on top and I’d have to order them. I got a little nuts.”

            Everywhere they went, Alpert and Petronio remained on the lookout for items that would fulfill the vision, including many pieces bought in Eastern Long Island. “Every time we’d go out to the house to accept a delivery, we’d go visit the local stores and gather up accessories,” Alpert recalls. Petronio adds, “Anytime we saw anything beachy, we’d get a sample and stick it in our briefcase. Nothing was safe if it had a shell on it!”

            The result does indeed have every nook and cranny holding a beach-themed surprise. Here, the andirons are shaped like anchors; there, a picture frame is cut out of a scallop shell. The media room has a sprightly red-white-and-blue lighthouse theme, from the wallpaper to the lamp bases. Cook had designed the house with a deck above the bedrooms, an open living room/dining room/kitchen configuration, spaces full of sunlight and even a poolside sun porch. Alpert and Petronio complemented that with such appropriately airy furniture as open rattan seating in the sun porch and the chairs of woven sisal in the living room. All serve to keep the look light and buoyant.

            Sea colors- aqua, sea foam green, turquoise- abound. The only room that feels a bit different is the master bedroom, with a dark mahogany bed and upholstered chairs. “It’s most reminiscent of their main residence,” Alpert notes. “It’s more traditional and formal.” Nevertheless, thanks to sharp blue-and-white fabrics, plenty of light and views of the water, it feels positively aquatic.

            “Sometimes when you do a first home for someone and they are coming from another home, they have lots of things with them,” Alpert notes. “The Lipsons never had a summer place before, so they came with absolutely nothing. We got maybe 2,000 decorative pieces and accessories, plus the furniture. Whatever it took to fill a house we had to get, and then make it into a home.”

By Marina Isola Campbell. Photographs by Barbel Miebach