Inspiring ‘Design in the Hamptons’

Every year there are at least one or two books that seek to capitalize on the “Hamptons style” whether it be food, art, architecture, environs, lifestyle, or decor. They can often be expensive and hollow affairs, produced chiefly for last-minute purchases at BookHampton for a host or hostess gift.

“Design in the Hamptons” by Anthony Iannacci, to be feted at an event at Mecox Gardens in East Hampton on Saturday at 5 p.m., isn’t one of those books. It has all the bells and whistles of the genre, but takes up where “Designing the Hamptons: Portraits of Interiors,” from a few years back, left off, bringing readers into the residences of mostly the designers themselves, to show how they live.

Sumptuously captured by a team of photographers, the light portrayed in these waterfront houses can be somber, brilliant, dusky, or artificial depending on the mood. It is often the shadows cast by the architecture or the slant of the sun that gives a room its intimate feel. The imperfections take the rooms off of the pages of overly styled magazine layouts to favor the natural environment and ever-changing climates of the region.

As such, the fantasy that one could enter any one of these rooms is palpable and their minimal, primarily modernist feel is clean and unfussy, even in the more traditional structures. It is a casual style that is in no way unstylish, but not stuffy either. It is hard not to be inspired by them.

The introductions to each of the sections were written by Mr. Iannacci, who studied art and architecture at the Cooper Union in New York City and has been an art critic, journalist, and curator in New York, Milan, and Los Angeles. The essays are appreciations of the designers’ vision and lifestyle.

Some of the work or houses of designers include those of Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan, Philip Galanes and Michael Haverland, James Huniford, Todd Merrill, Suzanne Shaker, and James Topping.

The book was published by the Monacelli Press.