The whistling, stamping enthusiasm at Friday's dress rehearsal for the fourth annual High School Playwrights Festival, together with a plea from the Bay Street Theatre's producer, Murphy Davis, not to stick gum on the seats, gave a hint that it was a student audience. But given the high level of writing, acting, and production, the adult spectators on Saturday were no doubt just as vociferous.

All the plays addressed pretty heavy topics: pregnancy and abortion, physical abuse, family stress and responsibility, the demands of friendship, interracial relationships. It may be a sign of the times, or perhaps that the teenage years are when children are suddenly catapulted into the minefield of adult life.

As Mr. Davis put it, "These plays are from their hearts and guts, and it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there."

"Violent Mercies"

The lights went up on a simple stage set: red rectangular units of different sizes, which were rearranged for each play by the efficient stage crew. The audience was immediately swept up into the energy of the first play, "Violent Mercies."

Written by Michelle Stachecki of Southampton High School and directed by Jacqui Leader, it was a disturbing and effective demonstration of how domestic violence can be passed from one generation to another.

An angry teenager, played with an alarming, coiled violence by Nick Clapp, is repeating the abuse he suffered from his father by hitting his girlfriend. His sister, played by Amanda Crocker, who was also abused, desperately tries to get him to seek help before it is too late.

Teenage Pregnancy

In "Decisions," written by Melissa Tiska of Bridgehampton High School and directed by Laura Lee Bruce, two girls, acted by Ms. Tiska and LaShanna Hopson (a theater natural), address the problems of teenage pregnancy, unwanted children, and the pros and cons of abortion while waiting for the results of a pregnancy test.

But, as it reads negative, we are left in the dark about what decision the worried girl would ultimately have made.

"Only communicate" seemed to be the message of Pierson High School's "Temporary Reality," written by Jennifer Lazar, acted by Justin Grimbol and Gwen Levinson, and directed by Norman Kline.

It dealt movingly with the problems of friendship and the need to recognize that pain and anguish are part of the human condition.

Sister And Brother

"The Trip," a second play from Southampton High School, was perhaps the best constructed of all, with a tight plot line and snappy action.

Written by Kathryn Murphy and directed by Mindy Washington, it presented a resolution of conflict between a straight-A student, played by Christine Hauck, and her brother, Brian Cancellieri, who is failing his classes as a result of the death of their father.

Among the students, the most popular offering was "Ever Since That Day," written by Raishawn Harris of the Frederick Douglass Academy during an intensive three-day playwriting course held at Boys Harbor - the first time Bay Street has offered that program - and directed by Karole Turner-Stevens.

One of the playwriting program's most gratifying surprises was that some students doing less well academically turned out to be its brightest stars.

The play, involving a mixed-race relationship and dealing with the concept that good friends should understand and support each other even under difficult circumstances, was acted by two consummate hams, William Terry and Ohene Cornelius. The pair, particularly Ohene, would seem to have bigger and brighter lights in their futures.

"Mauled By A Bear"

There was one hilarious black comedy, "Mauled by a Bear," written by Daniel Fokine of Shelter Island High School and directed by Helene Leonard.

To the roars of a raging bear, two campers, a father and son, stagger on stage. The father, played by an adult actor, Tom Gustin, has been mortally wounded but seems to find the situation riotously funny. They are lost, without shelter, food, or water, and the father is of no help to his sanctimonious son, played by Nick Hamblet, who wants to go for help but doesn't know which way to go.

"There's nothing out there," the son complains, "except the remains of Uncle Frankie and the guide." After whining on about his feckless father's shortcomings, the son leaves - and gets eaten by the bear amid plenty of screams. The father collapses. End of play.

I'm not quite sure what the message was here, but it was a barrel of laughs. All six plays, in fact, were good, gripping theater.

Playwriting Course

Mary Spitzer and John Martin Green taught the seven-week program, sponsored by the Bay Street Theatre, that culminated in the weekend's performances.

At the start, she explained, students were given writing assignments concentrating on character development and how to build tension. They were told to concentrate on what they knew and always to keep in mind five key questions - who the characters are, what they want, and where, when, and how they will get it.

In the last two or three weeks of the course, the students, from Bridgehampton, Southampton, Pierson, and Shelter Island High Schools, started to work on their plays. Each cast was restricted to two characters. A panel of judges chose the six finalists whose plays would be produced.

A Gratifying Surprise

One of the program's most gratifying surprises, said Ms. Spitzer, was that some students who weren't doing so well academically turned out to be its brightest stars.

"It's great for them to see that while they may not have succeeded in one area, they can do so in another," she said.

The students were involved in every stage of production: acting, lighting, costuming, stage management, scene shifting, even ticket sales.

In addition to the local schools, Bay Street invited the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem, an alternative school within the New York City public school system (recently featured on "60 Minutes"), to take part in the experimental crash course at Boys Harbor.

One Day To Write A Play

Ten students and a teacher from the academy attended the intensive program, and Raishawn Harris's "Ever Since That Day" was ultimately chosen for performance.

The intensity and concentration of the workshop was inspiring, said Ms. Spitzer. The students had only one day to write their plays, and on that day "there was an intense silence," she said. "The only sound was that of pen on paper."

The Playwrights Festival is a fine example of interaction between schools and community groups.

The darkest days of the year will end on Saturday, when the sun arrives at the point farthest south of the Equator and begins its long climb back to the light.

The December solstice always brings with it an almost physical sense of a weight being lifted from the shoulders, a lightening not only of the western horizon but of the cares of life.

The psychology is powerful. The calendar says winter is just beginning, but the heart knows the worst is over. Once again the shortest day has come and gone, once more we have stared into the depths and survived to contemplate the mountaintop.

There may be snow outside, but as soon as the winter solstice passes it is time to begin thinking about snowdrops.

The stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner will pay a visit to Book Hampton in East Hampton at 2 p.m. Sunday to read to children from "D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths."

This children's classic, which brings to life the gods, goddesses, and legendary heroes of ancient Greece, was recently recorded by Ms. Turner as an Airplay audiobook. Twenty percent of sales of the tape, on which Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, and Matthew Broderick join her in the narration, will go to Mr. Newman's Hole in the Wall Camp for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Following the reading, which is for children 8 and older, refreshments will be served and Ms. Turner, who lives in Amagansett, will sign copies of the tape.

On Saturday at 5:30, Maria Robbins of Springs will be at Book Hampton to launch her new book, "Chocolate for Christmas: 50 of the Best Recipes for Chocolate Cookies, Cakes, Candies, and More."

Ms. Robbins, a veteran food writer and expert baker, offers advice on chocolate - from choosing among different types, to where to buy it, how to melt it, and what to do with it before eating it. She is also the author of "Baking for Christmas," "Cookies for Christmas," "A Cook's Alphabet of Quotations," and "A Christmas Companion."

Poetry Readings

Anne Porter of Southampton will read Christmas poems and other selections from her poetry at 4 p.m. Sunday in Southampton. The reading will be held at the Rogers Memorial Library's Cooper House on Windmill Lane in Southampton.

Mrs. Porter, who is the widow of the artist Fairfield Porter, was nominated for a National Book Award for a collection of her poems, "An Altogether Different Language."

She will also be among the poets reading at the Clayton-Liberatore Gallery in Bridgehampton on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. Joining her will be Robert Long, Richard Weber, Dan Moran, and Ellen de Pazzi, who will host the event.

Refreshments will be served at both events.

Sag Harbor and North Haven residents face an inconvenience when the bridge between the communities is replaced, no matter which of several proposals is chosen by the Department of Transportation.

While officials in both villages favor a new span in the same place as the old one, Sag Harbor merchants fear that diverting traffic during the two years it would take to finish construction would mean a loss of business. We agree. The D.O.T. has proposed allowing two-way traffic over the bridge in the summer but detouring traffic in both directions during the rest of the year. It would leave a lane open, however, for emergency vehicles.

Another proposal, to build a new bridge next to the existing one, as was done recently on Shelter Island, has been scorned by officials in both villages, while Sag Harbor's merchants like the idea.

How about this: Since one-way traffic over the bridge during its reconstruction apparently is feasible, why not install coordinated traffic signals on both approaches to the bridge and allow traffic to flow over it only in one direction at a time?

The D.O.T. argues that traffic, especially in the summer, would back up. But measure the inconvenience of travelers waiting to get over the bridge against the impact of a detour away from the Sag Harbor business area in the off-season when business is most needed. Those who use the bridge regularly will figure out the best way to avoid the snarl and get where they have to go. A slowdown for other travelers seems the lesser of two evils.

Ten years ago, after it had become apparent that East Hampton was failing in its commitment to protect groundwater, a water resources management report was completed and incorporated into the Town Comprehensive Plan. It set policy for where public water mains were needed immediately or would be soon, and named certain parts of town where public water would be ill-advised.

In July of that year, while the extension of mains to the motels on Napeague was being debated, The Star noted that at "Promised Land and Lazy Point, on the other side of the sandy isthmus . . . permits continue to be issued for houses, cesspools, wells, and even swimming pools that will inevitably pollute the scant groundwater and perhaps even change the quality of the water in Gardiner's Bay."

Opponents of extending public water to Napeague argued correctly that it would open more of the duneland there to development. They suggested that the motels set up their own water purification systems. Since Napeague has only the shallowest lens of fresh water, opponents also said good water pumped in there would be lost to the sea because it could not be recharged.

A constant in the debate over public water (and sewers, we might add) is whether water quality and distribution should be controlled by separate municipalities or subject to regional administration. The Suffolk County Water Authority always has taken the latter view, while planners in towns such as East Hampton, which have worked to protect their water supplies, have demanded a say in what happens to them.

Even after the water resources report became a part of the Comprehensive Plan, however, town officials were loath to follow all of its recommendations. Large-lot zoning and strict clearing regulations for newly established "water-recharge" districts were positive steps, as were the purchase of several large tracts that are important sources of water.

But little else was done to stop single-family houses from being built on small lots in areas with little drinkable groundwater - Gerard Point in Springs, Lazy Point in Amagansett, and parts of East Lake Drive in Montauk, for example. So it was inevitable that residents of such areas eventually would ask to have public water brought to their houses.

To the extent that local and county government was complicit in allowing houses to go up where they could be expected to drain or contaminate the water supply, it might be obligated to respond positively to cries for public water.

But that doesn't mean it is environmentally sound.

Just as one building permit in a low-lying and vulnerable area leads to others, "watering" the Lazy Point area of Amagansett, as now is being urged, would be precedent-setting. Since our zoning policies rely largely on the quantity and quality of groundwater for legal justification, the Zoning Code itself could crumble once public water is more widely available.

The Water Authority and County Legislature have stated a goal of providing public water to all residents, which would, of course, spur development. East Hampton has insisted it has a more principled goal - to keep development limited so that it does not outpace the natural water supply. Unfortunately, we do not always practice what we preach.

It seems only fair to allow those who already live on private lands at Lazy Point to hook up to public water providing they assume the full financial burden. But no additional housing should be allowed there.

That would be consistent with the ban the Town Trustees have adopted on new houses on the public lands under their stewardship. But the Trustees also should turn down the prospect of public water for those homeowners already there and prohibit any further expansion of their houses. Surely those who live on Lazy Point's windswept common lands have learned to put up with its inadequate, salty, or iron-rich water.

In the meantime, the 1986 water resources management report should be reread, revised where needed, and put to use.

The homes of many creative people have appeared on these pages and it is always interesting to see how the sensibilities and thought processes that aid homeowners in their professions are reflected in the way they live.

There are the practical aspects: A fine artist will have a studio while a chef will focus on the kitchen. And there are the more subtle requirements of atmosphere and ambiance.

On Hampton Street in Sag Harbor, Karen and Alan Furst have collaborated on a simple house that far transcends their basic need for work space and provides an inviting haven, a quiet retreat for creative thinking, and a comfortable gathering place for colleagues and friends.

Detail And Clarity

Mr. Furst is a writer, the author of spy novels set in Europe. The latest, "The World at Night," takes place in Paris during World War II and is filled with fine descriptions of la vie francaise.

Five years of living in France has tuned his ear and eye, and, not least, his taste. Personal interactions, spicy conversation, architectural details, and, indeed, flavors and aromas are avidly collected for his mental archives and affect his daily decisions, whether it be the scene in the next chapter of his latest book or buying an antique throw for the living room.

Mrs. Furst is a landscape designer with clients in the U.S. and Europe. Her clarity of vision, essential in dealing with vast landscapes, also plays within the confines of her house, a spareness and regard for space that makes the small house seem larger. An earlier career in fashion has also contributed an appreciation of textiles, colors, and patterns.

Creams, Tans, Red

Their home is a gable-ended, clapboard house with a porch out front facing the busiest thoroughfare in Sag Harbor Village. A tall hedge at the street and plain muslin curtains on the living room windows muffle the sound of traffic and filter the light to create a quiet and intimate atmosphere.

The furnishings have been gathered here and there, at yard sales, from parents, and from Sage Street Antiques just down the road. The patchwork throw on the sofa is made of squares of 19th-century cut velvet, probably leftovers from someone's bygone draperies. The larger pieces of upholstery are in neutral natural colors, cream and tans, and there are rattan chairs and darker wood tables. The warmth in the room comes from red, the cushions on the chairs and in the Oriental rugs on the floor.

One end of the room is wrapped with bookshelves and functions as a library with two comfortable chairs for reading.

Wainscoting Preserved

The dining room is very light with white painted chairs and a show-stopping sideboard, a painted piece from Mr. Hurst's mother's New York apartment, purchased from a decorator in the '30s. The pair of lamps on the buffet was found at a flea market in Paris. Mrs. Furst spent days hunting for new shades and ended up recovering the old frames with silk she sewed by hand.

Beyond the dining room is the kitchen, the only room completely renovated by the Fursts and by Anthony Hagen, a cabinetmaker. And even that was accomplished without gutting the original wainscoted walls.

All the new appliances with the exception of the refrigerator are located in the center island. Only one wall is taken up by storage and that consists of glass-doored cabinets over an old-fashioned counter on a set of drawers and tall pantry doors made of wainscoting to match the old walls.

Serendipity Helps

The island is configured to provide ample counter space; the sink is opposite the cook top and the dishwasher is opposite the oven, below the counter. Above it all hangs a large wooden pot rack with all the bulky pots and pans that would normally take up lots of storage space. The countertop itself is polished wild cherry wood in random widths, a beautiful backdrop for large party buffets.

The Fursts each have an office upstairs in two of the three bedrooms. All the rooms are uncluttered and simple. Mrs. Furst's desk chair is dressed in a slipcover of her own design and fashion tailoring, with two long slits in the back tied with bows to accommodate its round back shape.

The master bedroom is all white with sponge-painted nightstands and white marble lamps. Another lamp, a handsome silver oil lamp, is topped with a beautiful linen damask shade that smacks of a custom job.

"Not so," says Mrs. Furst, "it's just a lucky find at Hildreth's in Southampton!"

Which just proves that a good eye, careful thought, and some serendipity can work wonders along with a good dose of joie de vivre.

By Harriet Diller

Illustrated by Andrea Shine

Boyds Mills Press, $14.95

Ah, the child's imagination, conditioned to take a young dreamer on a journey at the least provocation. And the delicate, tentative world of the young, balanced as it is between reality and the netherworlds that may or may not be real. . . .

In "The Faraway Drawer," it is a visit to the guest room, and a look at Great-Grandmother's hand-knitted sweaters stored there, that propels the young narrator into imaginary worlds.

Evoking memories of days poking through Nana's attic, or occasional forays into the mysteries of Big Sister's dresser drawers, the story is told in a child's simple, poetic voice, describing a much-loved, repeated, and secret ritual:

Upstairs

down the dark hall

on the other side of the closed door

in the cool and distant guestroom

is the faraway drawer.

In which lie the sweaters, "one-two-three-four," adorned with traditional Nordic patterns, whose names Mother has taught her daughter, patterns which unfold into worlds that welcome only the child, worlds secret from adults.

One, the mother explains, is made of "Swedish weaving," and evokes a "cool sky . . . strands of white yarn woven through the blue." "That's part of the truth," explains our adventurer, "but not the best part, which is where the sweater takes me."

Another is adorned with "dancing ladies the color of Christmas trees," who prance to life along the drawer's edge in one of this book's lush, detailed watercolor illustrations.

The drawings, by Andrea Shine of Southampton, draw us into the dream, a visit to a red planet, and a wintry island on which the sweater's black shapes caw to life as crows. Back in the guest room, where the young girl is drawn, head propped sideways against a cozy wool sweater created by a loved one from long ago, I can almost feel the sun on my face on a quiet family afternoon, a child left alone to fantasize, to conjure, and to travel along that line between the here-and-now and the what-may-be.

If you were to paint the scene at the Water Mill auction marking the end of David Szczepankowski's career as a farmer, it would have been with a palette of earth tones.

Dull red barns. Threatening gray skies. Muddy brown tire tracks on the road to the farm. Scores of farmers in brown coveralls, denims, blue and green sweatshirts, green John Deere caps.

As development and the high price of land increase the odds against East End farmers, stories like Mr. Szczepankowski's have become more familiar. He himself has already begun a new career, one as closely connected to the market as farming, but, he hopes, with more promise - stock-brokering.

Meanwhile, however, an auction like the one held Saturday only happens every few years.

Some Were Just Curious

Hundreds of farmers, mainly from Long Island, braced themselves against the frigid weather and developing showers to get a look at what Mr. Szczepankowski had to offer.

Some came to buy the farming equipment he would no longer need. Others were there out of curiosity, wondering how much their own equipment might be worth if they too decided on a change of career.

"A lot of guys who thought they had $100,000 worth of equipment found out they didn't," Mr. Szczepankowski said matter-of-factly a few days after the auction. One tractor he had thought might go for $10,000 or $12,000 brought only $4,000, for example.

Low Prices

The auctioneer always started high, came down until he got a bid, then started going up again. Standing on the sidelines, farmers muttered about the brand of a particular machine or grumbled that a truck had gone for too much, a tractor for too little.

"It's a little sad," Jim Pike, a Sagaponack farmer, admitted after the auction. "Sad that nothing brought that much money, and sad to see someone so young go out of farming." Mr. Szczepankowski is in his 30s.

Low prices are reportedly the norm at Long Island auctions, for a number of reasons.

"Nobody wants to go over the bridge," Lawrence Osborn of Wainscott guessed. The Throgs Neck and George Washington Bridges lie like an obstacle course between the Island and the farmlands of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York.

Land Is The Problem

In the past, much equipment bought on Long Island had to be fumigated before it could be taken elsewhere, another expense and an added deterrent for off-Island farmers. That was thanks to the golden nematode, a notorious potato pest indigenous to the Island, now believed to have been eradicated.

The ink in Mr. Osborn's small notebook was bleeding in the rain as he recorded the selling price of various pieces of equipment - a bean picker, a tractor, a 1966 truck.

"In Pennsylvania, equipment's more expensive," Mr. Pike said.

"Yeah, they actually use it. They really farm," Mr. Osborn piped in.

The two lamented a farmer's biggest need and greatest problem today - land and the lack of it. "There's none of it left," Mr. Pike declared.

"It has to stop somewhere," Mr. Osborn said. "There's a few of us diehards left. Right, Jim?"

Later, Mr. Pike cited a statistic he had read. "Eighty percent of the fruit and 70 percent of the vegetables grown in this country are grown on land facing development pressure."

Another Subdivision?

The Mecox Road farmland and barns that Mr. Szczepankowski rented from the Babinski family are being sold as well. The fate of the land is not certain.

The property is in escrow right now, and there has been talk of a housing subdivision with some acreage set aside for farming, or perhaps a horse farm. But Enzo Morabito, a real estate broker with Sagaponack Real Estate and Auctions, has seen plans for the farm and says neighbors can expect a maximum-density small-lot subdivision.

"It's not a pretty one," he said. "It's not what I would do."

The East Hampton farmstand Mr. Szczepankowski ran on the corner of Stephen Hand's Path and Montauk Highway since he was 13 will be gone next year, too. The State Department of Transportation will use the roadside spot it occupied to expand Montauk Highway enough to make a turn lane for Stephen Hand's Path.

A Tough Year

Two weeks ago, Mr. Szczepankowski and his wife, Susan, spent the last days at their stand.

The year had been one of the most difficult he could recall, said the former farmer. He had moved to the rented land in November 1995, after his father decided to put the family's Wainscott farmland on the market.

This year's growing and harvesting had been particularly rough in the wet weather, Mr. Szczepankowski said, and the one crop that did well almost across the board - potatoes - had a bleak showing in the market.

"In the fall, I still had a chance of the potato business panning out," he said, noting that had the market turned around, he could have made some money. Instead, it dropped off even further, meaning nobody was going to be cashing in on what was otherwise an excellent potato harvest.

"We worked awfully hard this summer," Mr. Szczepankowski reflected. "To do that without making any money just doesn't make any sense. I was beating my head against the wall with this farming thing."

Keeping A Connection

Despite the couple's love of the land, all the signs were pointing to one thing - it was time to get out. They hauled away the farmstand for the last time and on Saturday he sold off the tools of his trade.

Mrs. Szczepankowski hopes to maintain her connection to farming. She is planning to expand an existing wholesale produce business, dealing with farms on the North and South Forks and in Riverhead.

"It supports the continuation of agriculture, which is important to me," she said. She is also part of a group that is trying to establish a cooperative of organic growers.

Her husband's new job will mean some big changes, even down to wardrobe, he laughed last week. Rubber boots and jeans go into the closet and suits and ties come out.

Though he has had a long-standing interest in finance and buying stock, he will miss farming, said Mr. Szczepankowski. "If I had my druthers, that's what I'd do, but I'm also tired of working hard and not getting anywhere."

Three Generations

Last week, as he readied his equipment for the auction, it wasn't without emotion. Three generations of Szczepankowskis farming on the South Fork ends with him. His father was a farmer and his grandfather, who emigrated from Poland, was as well.

"The sad part is, I feel like my grandfather came here from another country, couldn't speak the language, and he made it. How in the world can I seem not to be able to do that?"

His decision to get out of agriculture was made easier, though, knowing there was little choice.

"If I have a really bad year, I can't pull through," he said.

Thought Of Maryland

The Szczepankowskis had considered buying a farm in Delaware or Maryland, where arable parcels are much larger and local governments, said Mr. Szczepankowski, are "more pro-agriculture," but the risk was too great.

"Those people know what land is valued at just like we do here," he said. "They're not giving it away."

"We're running our business on a shoestring here; there, it would have been more difficult. Why do we want to get involved in a mortgage when we don't know where the money's going to come from?"

The rolling views of East End farmland, and the fresh produce available in season, is in part what attracts many second-home owners to settle here, but Mr. Szczepankowski said he was not ready to sacrifice his economic well-being to help maintain a good vista or a way of life.

Not So Romantic

"They want the farmland, but they don't want the farms," has become a kind of mantra among local farmers who find themselves at odds with some newer residents' demands to keep down the dust, the spraying, the noise.

Farmers feel there is a tendency to romanticize their occupation and at the same time hand them the responsibility for keeping agriculture going as a way of life against all odds.

Mr. Szczepankowski put it in far more practical terms. "If you do it for a living," he said, "it's not a way of life. It's the way you make your livelihood."

"When you're young, a couple of dollars in your pocket is okay, but as you get older . . . you can't do it when you know it's not a lucrative business."

Development Rights

Mr. Szczepankowski thinks the government pays only lip service to agriculture.

"[They] don't care about the farmer. They care about his land and what's going to happen to it, but they don't care if I leave or another guy leaves."

Open space referendums may help preserve farmland, he said, but they do little to help the farmer continue to work that land.

"From a farmer's point of view, it's a silly thing. . . . What do you do after you've sold the development rights at a discount to the government? What if things don't go well and you have to sell?"

Selling the rights does give farmers some money up front, but, Mr. Szczepankowski said, the most the property can draw afterward might be $8,000 or $10,000 an acre for horse farms.

"Compared to $100,000 an acre, that's not much money," he said, adding that selling to developers simply made more financial sense.

Nature Of The Beast

Idealize all you want, said Mr. Szczepankowksi, but farming is "difficult and expensive." Over and above the cost to rent or buy land comes the task of marketing a crop at a fair price, and then actually getting paid for it.

"That's the nature of this business. A lot of people are just absolute crooks," he said, shaking his head.

There has long been an edge among farmers as well, because, though they may share some common concerns, they are also competitors, for both customers and a shrinking amount of land.

Mrs. Szczepankowski thought she sensed a sign of change at the auction Saturday, though.

"There's much more sense of camaraderie among the local farmers now," she said. "It's kind of like they know the ship is going down and they have to hold on to each other."

David Stevens, a garden designer from England, will speak on "Garden Design Ideas From Around the World" at the next meeting of the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Community House.

Mr. Stevens has 25 years of experience in designing gardens and is a professor of garden design at Middlesex University in England. He has won 11 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show in London and has written 16 gardening books.

After the meeting, all have been invited to the Horticultural Library on the ground floor of the Community House for a holiday celebration.

Members will be admitted free, and nonmembers will be asked for a $10 donation that will include the lecture and party.

AMAGANSETT

Caunitz to Stephen Radtke, Shore Road, $250,000.

Kehne to James Welsch, Hand Lane, $525,000.

BRIDGEHAMPTON

Toombs to Kathryn Reimann, Toppings Path, $260,000.

R.J. Mayer Pension Fund to Phyllis Florin, Scuttlehole Road, $165,000.

EAST HAMPTON

Ventolo to Anne and Mary Kellett, Post Street, $235,000.

MONTAUK

Williams to Joseph and Nora Dryer, East Lake Drive, $300,000.

Fava to Thomas Buehler, Montauk Highway, $1,880,000.

Perry to Stanley and Diane Dacuk, Gladstone Place, $165,000.

Star (trustee) to Fabio and Catherine Rosati, East Lake Drive, $278,000.

NORTH HAVEN

Bailkin to Mark and Angela Joseph, Fairlea Court, $975,000.

NOYAC

Timberland Homes Inc. to Michael Crocitto, Fourteen Hills Court, $235,000.

SAG HARBOR

Stanley to Janet O'Brien, Denise Street, $230,000.

SPRINGS

Tarr to Maura and John Grant Jr., Fireplace Road, $429,000.

Fakiel to Joseph and Katherine Kipp, Water Hole Road, $165,000.

WATER MILL

Gross to Robert and Thea Mitzman, Mecox Road, $552,500.

Reigler to Nan Sandleitner, Westminster Road, $975,000.