Ah, Devon’s Fancy

Sunday night, Labor Day weekend, 2014: So here we find ourselves in the bedroom of Cabin #3 at Devon’s Fancy on the very, very last night, the end of an era. We fell in love here, so it’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our secret hideaway in the woods.

Our cabins are rustic, for sure. Not everyone’s notion of the Hamptons. How many visitors have come, walked about the grounds, and marveled at the fact that something like this could possibly exist in Amagansett? In Maine, maybe, but the Hamptons? No way. Amagansett from the old days, the way we imagine things were when Roy Lichtenstein was a tenant here.

We wish we knew more of the history of Devon’s Fancy, not the least of which the name. We wish we’d pressed our landlords, George and Teda Balasses, for more details. The charming hand-painted sign in the common cabin suggests some memorable times have been had here prior to us, but they would never confirm or deny that Swedish nudists were in residence at one time. We can totally see it, though, so we’re sticking with that colorful (but quite possibly imagined) history.

We do know now, having learned it at George’s memorial service, just shy of what would have been his 98th birthday, that the cabins were formerly officers’ barracks at Camp Hero in Montauk, moved to their current location on Fresh Pond Road sometime in the 1940s.

George and Teda lived next door to Devon’s Fancy in their “winter home.” (Their “summer home” was on Outlook Avenue in Springs.) They were such reserved, private people. And so interesting they were. Traveled the world collecting furniture to stock their Amagansett institution, Balasses House Antiques. Is there a single fashionable home on the East End that doesn’t have something acquired at Balasses House? End of an era for that as well. Balasses House, a fixture in Amagansett since 1959, is gone, closed when George and Teda’s younger business partner, who had taken over the shop, died in Cancun several years ago. You are remembered fondly as well, Tom.

Was our little Shangri-la called Devon’s Fancy before George and Teda bought the property back in the early 1960s? All we know is that little has changed since that time — no upgrades, no fancy landscaping, and all tenants still share a communal outdoor shower. Dana wearing her famous “Across the Universe” bathrobe to and from the shower, a touch of glamour for our little compound, is a favorite memory. And there was nothing better than a cool rinse in that shower after a long, hot morning of tennis, then preparing a Caprese salad with ingredients from Balsam Farm, with a glass of Lillet under our picnic table umbrella. Ah, summer.

None of the cottages have stoves, so barbecuing is a way of life here. One Memorial Day weekend many, many years ago we were so excited to arrive, get settled in, and kick off the summer with a steak on the grill. But we were having one of those bone-chilling early-season rains. Not to be deterred, David and Kelly bundled up and covered themselves and the grill with a golf umbrella while Patty and I uncorked the first of many bottles of red. The four of us couldn’t have had a better evening bundled in fleece in our damp, chilly cabin, talking, laughing, and playing the first of many summer Scrabble games until the wee hours.

That’s the thing about Devon’s Fancy, it’s simple, about as close to camping as you get without a tent. So, day and night here, it’s been about loving and appreciating our quiet, special place in the woods and one another’s company.

Jane, thanks for the tomatoes, the veggies, and the gorgeous flowers from the farm, and for keeping your bird feeder full, providing hours upon hours of enjoyment watching birds that love Devon’s Fancy as much as we do. And to Dell, thank you for also falling for the charm of Devon’s Fancy and making these last few summers possible for all of us.

None of us thought George and Teda would ever be gone; we thought Devon’s Fancy would always be. But as I write this, tomorrow morning Devon’s Fancy will no longer be ours. As part of their estate, Devon’s Fancy has been sold, with the proceeds going to charities named by George and Teda. We are very glad for that, and while it will no longer be Devon’s Fancy, may the new residents of George and Teda’s special cabins come to have as many happy memories as we do.

Suzanne Lengyel, a financial adviser living New York City, has been a summer resident of Amagansett since 1990. She and her husband, David Steadly, now own a house in Barnes Landing.