2023 Hampton Designer Showhouse offers farmhouse-style decor inspiration
Exterior of the showhouse. Credit: Hampton Designer Showhouse Foundation, Inc.
Enveloped by the woods of Southampton, a modern farmhouse-style home sits in wait. Six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a string of living spaces curated by a team of 20 designers remain untouched and unseen by the public.
On July 23, the newly built house will open its doors as the Hampton Designer Showhouse — a 1-acre display property that offers visitors the opportunity to tour a professionally styled house for a $40 admission fee benefiting the Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.
"There is an element of voyeurism," said Beth McDonough, spokesperson for Hampton Designer Showhouse Foundation. "Everybody loves to look at homes, both from an architectural perspective and, in this case, a design perspective as well; and then at the end of the day, they know that by touring through, it’s benefiting a very valuable organization that’s based locally in the Hamptons."
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance and include a journal. The season of tours is set to run select dates through Sept. 3.
Over the past two decades, the Hampton Designer Showhouse has raised almost $2 million to benefit Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and showcased a broad spectrum of designers, according to its organizers.
"Show houses are really like laboratories for decorators, because they are not working with a client, so they are able to experiment with things they've always wanted to do and design," said Tony Manning, president of the Hampton Designer Showhouse Foundation.
The kitchen and breakfast room were designed by Ciuffo Cabinetry and Michelle Gerson Interiors. Credit: Michelle Gerson Interiors
This year’s home was built by father and son Tom and Doug Cavallo of Cavallo Building and will be sold by Doug's brother, Tom Cavallo, a real estate agent for Douglas Elliman. Each participating designer has a dedicated space in the house or outside of it.
"With a show house, it's kind of like a lottery," said designer Antonio DeLoatch, 36, of choosing spaces to design. "You come, you get to walk the house, and you get to pick your three favorites."
DeLoatch, of Harlem, chose to design the entry vestibule, 55-foot upper hall and landing, first-floor powder bathroom and a 20-foot wall leading down to the garden level. As the group of designers puts finishing touches on their rooms, DeLoatch noticed pops of pinks and rich greens, textural artwork with dimension and unique uses of wood.
"There's definitely color, and playfulness with color," he said. "You can kind of see some of that happening in fashion today, too, and even just out in the streets in the Hamptons, right? Everyone's not just dressed in white; there's a pop of color."
Overall, the show house has "a happy energy," DeLoatch said.
The home is on the market, priced at $6.495 million, but will not be ready for move-in until tours conclude in September.
Hampton Designer Showhouse
WHEN | WHERE 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 499 Broadway, Southampton; Sunday, July 23, Friday, July 28 through Sunday, July 30, and Thursdays through Sundays through Sept. 3; hamptondesignershowhouse.com
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
