In the days before Prada stores and Kardashian spinoffs, Long Island was a string of modest fishing villages and whaling ports, from Sag Harbor on the South Shore to the North Fork. Its charms were more subtle, drawing progressive creatives in the 1960s and ’70s: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Andy Warhol, along with architects Norman Jaffe and Andrew Geller, whose modernist wooden homes would become architectural gems.
Today, driving into East Hampton or Montauk after hours of gridlock, there’s hardly any semblance of those tiny fishing villages. Streets are lined with high-end boutiques, mansions with manicured lawns, and NYC restaurants like Sant Ambroeus, where a queue snakes outside. For many, this over-the-top atmosphere is part of the appeal. But those nostalgic for the past—when cycling to the beach barefoot was the norm and restaurant queues were not—will be pleased to know it’s still attainable in some hamlets.
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AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R15e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R25e4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeIt was the low-key feeling of Amagansett and the Dunes (also known as Beach Hampton), wedged between East Hampton and Montauk, that first attracted hotelier Sylvia Wong to the area. “I love the fact that it is not a see-and-be-seen sort of place,” says Wong, who opened The Roundtree hotel in 2020 in Amagansett, across from the main square. In 2022, she acquired a beach house in the Dunes, which is now operated by the hotel. A single-story modernist home designed by architect Alfred Scheffer, the so-called “dean of East Hampton architects” in the 1940s and 1950s, it is everything the Hamptons is not. “It is unpretentious and down to earth,” she says. “And it has private access to the beaches.” The house’s claim to fame—because, let’s be honest, everything around here has a claim to fame —is that it once belonged to the playwright Neil Simon. “[Neil] being the first owner makes it even more special,” adds Wong.
Hidden along Surf Drive, directly off the throbbing Montauk Highway, the four-bedroom Beach House of the Roundtree is surprisingly quiet and unassuming. Guests arrive down a pebbled driveway to a single-story bungalow, elegantly set back among hydrangeas, pitch pines, and red cedars, with a neat lawn and patio with sun loungers and hammock. Though this is prime real estate (one of the largest lots around), a grand mansion would be way out of place here. “Scheffer was renowned in the Hamptons at the time and known for cottages that have modern, clean-line aesthetics,” says Wong. “It was important to me that we respect the design and enhance the beauty of his design, rather than trying to change it or make it conform to the latest design trend.”
A large sliding glass door opens from the patio to the airy living room, with a pitched ceiling with wooden beams and a giant exposed brick fireplace that takes center stage. “[The fireplace and] exposed beams are examples of features that I wanted to highlight rather than change,” says Wong. “The decor, while luxurious, honors the principles of simplicity and modernity. Every detail, from Frette linen and Matouk towels, to the small vegetable garden with fresh herbs and strawberries, is carefully considered and executed.” The result is an uncluttered interior where the living room has an L-shaped couch from Danish brand Vipp and the beds are dressed with crisp white linen. Three of the bedrooms are down a long corridor inside the house (two have their own bathrooms, though they’re not en-suite); there’s also a private suite with a separate entrance and a small lounge area. In the master bedroom, sliding doors open onto a private patio with two sun chairs, and in the bathroom, a deep tub sits next to a table with Diptyque candles and Goop bath salts, a picture window framing the private garden. All the bathrooms have Grown Alchemist bath products. Stashed in the cupboards are those beach week essentials: board games like Scrabble, a big pile of beach towels, beach bags, and an umbrella.
Since the house is run by the Roundtree hotel, it receives daily housekeeping, access to the concierge via text or phone, and the perks of the property in town, including a breakfast basket of Il Buco pastries, bagels, and yogurt parfaits (which can be delivered to the house until 10 a.m.). There are plenty of restaurants nearby, but guests would be remiss not to take advantage of the outdoor grill and slick open-plan kitchen with a gas hob, tea station, barnyard sink, and long marble counter lined with six black bar stools. “[Vipp] sent their kitchen expert from Copenhagen to install the kitchen,” says Wong. To kickstart the cooking, a farm box, crowded with seasonal vegetables such as ramps and rutabaga, is delivered weekly from Amber Waves, a nearby nonprofit farm. “I love going there [to the farm], armed with my basket and pruning shears, to cut flowers to make bouquets for the house,” says Wong.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1ae4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2ae4kr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeThe best part of the Beach House? Access to an exclusive enclave favored by a select few locals and a handful of NYC families who have been holidaying here for years. “We pretty much always have the beach to ourselves. It is pure bliss!” says Wong, whose favorite thing to do is take her dog for a walk on the beach in the early morning. This stretch of Atlantic coast is the perfect crowd-free escape in the mornings: a long stretch of beach fringed by windswept dunes, with waves that are usually ridable. Plus, it’s a five-minute walk from the house down a private path, so you can stroll back for an outdoor shower or a relaxed barbecue with friends whenever you’re done for the day. Exactly the kind of ease the Hamptons once promised.
The Beach House rents from $7,ooo per night,with limited availability through Labor Day.Hotel starting rate is $1,295per night during the summer.
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