“I love that people walk in and say ‘Wow, this is really gorgeous—but not gorgeous in the don’t touch sense of the word,’” says homeowner Catherine Carmody, discussing the weekend getaway in Water Mill, New York, that she shares with her attorney husband, Bill. “It is very approachable, livable, and by no means a ‘designer’ home,” she stresses, reflecting on a childhood spent with a decorator mother who primed her on furnishings, time periods, and aesthetics. But a quick once-over is all that’s needed to deduce that a masterful decorator conducted the studied nonchalance of Hermès fabrics and de Gournay wallpaper. “We wanted a warm and comfortable—but not sandy-floor—beach house. Upscale, but not fancy! It took a lot to get the right feel, and Bennett really hit it at every corner,“ says Carmody of New York–based interior designer Bennett Leifer, who transformed the 10,000-square-foot cul-de-sac residence in one year’s time.
Upon meeting for a trial run, the Carmodys had an unusual request for the first space they asked Leifer to reimagine: the piano room. “A lot of clients I work with say the great room is most important to them,” reflects Leifer, “but the Carmodys smartly asked themselves, ‘Where do we spend the most time?’ so that was the initial focus.” Given the intent of the piano, they wanted the room to feel elegant yet comfortable as a segue from the living room where they could invite people in to watch TV. So he gave them flexible seating—custom, original-scale Jansen chairs (upholstered in Loro Piana fabric) from Anthony Lawrence-Belfair, an easy lounge chair by McGuire and streamlined sofa from Hickory—in smaller, more European proportions and neutral shades. This called for the room to sing with unexpected accents: custom gold leaf de Gournay wallpaper on the ceiling, hand-glazed lamps that highlight the drip glaze in person, and a bright yellow screen print on canvas describing love by artist Adam Pendleton.
In the poolhouse, a ladder from Pottery Barn, multicolored throw blankets from Comerford Collection, a Monroe chair (upholstered in fabric from John Rosselli) by Suzanne Kasler for Hickory, vintage bamboo chairs (upholstered in Rogers & Goffigon Deauville Coastline linen fabric and refinished by Anthony Lawrence-Belfair) from 1stdibs, a custom blackened bronze coffee table from Modern Living Supplies, and a custom screen by New York Picture Frames fitted with Carolina wallpaper from Flavor Paper.
Indeed, unexpected accents are what give the house its dynamic character. In the living room, the original architecture of the space was bland, with plain white soffits and beams on the ceiling, so Leifer enlisted a specialist to paint the beams a faux wood (to resemble the structure of a carriage house) and treated the mantel’s inset with a faux-stone painting technique to match the room’s travertine lamps. He accented with a handsome custom fireplace screen depicting constellations by Marie Suri and whimsically framed pencils by the artist Isabelle de Borchgrave that the couple found at a gallery in San Francisco. Similarly, in the dining room, he outfitted the chairs in a watercolor radish-print fabric by Radish Moon as a colorful interplay with a vivid Elaine de Kooning painting that the Carmodys battled over in a Christie’s auction. Even the junior master bathroom takes guests by surprise with its jolly, unconventional wallpaper: a multitudinous rabbit design by Hunt Slonem. “We have bunnies all over our backyard so I really loved the concept,” beams Carmody.
In seeking out the sweet spot between sophistication without stuffiness, it’s clear that the salient point of the project was to create a family home. “It’s not beachy, but it’s also not intimidating, and it still makes you feel welcome and want to sink down into the sofas and put your feet up on the coffee table,” says Carmody. The dozens of extended family and friends who constantly rotate through year-round do just that, cheerfully toasting good taste and good company.
