Thursday, March 31, 2011

Early North Sea

The area of North Sea was one of the first areas around here to be explored by the English settlers. The village of Southampton is about 2 miles south of this area. There are number of nice early homes in the this. This home with a deep gabrel roof is more typical of homes in the Hudson Valley.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bird's Eye View

There are two consecutive roads that run along the ocean front properties in Southampton. The more famous is Gin Lane with its formal hedged properties. The other ocean front road is Meadow Lane. Meadow Lane runs west from Cooper Neck Beach. This road has a more beachy feeling with the ocean to the south and Shinnecock bay to the north.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Rubarb Report

The green buds that looked a bit like Brussels Bprouts last week, now look more like small green cauliflowers.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Tree Lights

Many of the trees on Main Street have been wrapped as a way to brighten up the street at night. The big tree in front of 75 MAIN has extra bright lights that highlight the restaurant's location. The prior home of Sak's can be seen in the background.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

More New Buds

The buds on the Tree Peony are starting to swell. These will be blooms about the size of a salad plate and very vulnerable to hard spring rain.

Saturday, Sneak Attack

There are bird feeders in the midle of the back yard. The feeders hang off  a steel cable run from the back of the house to a huge yew. It took all winter but Twitch has figured out how to ride the thin steel wire out to the feeder, he than hangs from the cable and stuffs his face.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Snow Balls

Yesterday morning I woke to about 2 inches of snow. It did not stay around for long as we had good strong sun to melt it off fast.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Asparagus Season

I try to select asparagus about as thick as my finger, then I peel them with a vegi peeler. This goes fast, I lay them on the counter and drag the peeler down the side rolling them as needed.
Then I lay the aspagus in a steamer in a loose open way so the steam can get in and around.
The sauce is made from fine chopped hard-boiled-egg, melted butter, chopped parsley and a bit of lemon zest.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Gazebo - Pavilion

This amazing structure sits at the side of a tennis lawn at a private home. The craft needed to build all these curved shapes are really exceptional. I am not sure what you should call it pavilion? Gazebo?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Have a Seat

A few years ago the village added benches at the beach. The benches show how much the sand at the beaches moves from season to season.

Monday's Post

This home with appendage has a rich mix of textures.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Full MOON

Last night was a full moon. Due to the moon's orbit, this full moon was closer and brighter than any full moon for a long time. We lucked out that it was a clear night and we got the full effect.  It is not often that the moonlight is so bright you can see what color things are. 

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Little Fresh Pond

There are two fresh water ponds north of Southampton Village. One is called Big Fresh Pond, the other is Little Fresh Pond. It seems strange to have ponds here, our soil is so sandy that we have no streams or creeks to fill a pond. Looks a bit like Maine to me.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Gin Lane Comfort

This handsome home known as Red Shutters has not been altered that I can see in the thirty years I have driven by.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bayside Spring

I have not noticed pussy willow with this wispy branch structure before, These shrubs have a nice movement like Scottish broom.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Hampton House Tales

When I first came out east I used to ride around with an architect buddy of mine. He told me that this home used to be located much closer to RT 27 than it is now. When the house got moved they had a traveling cocktail party and followed the house down the street to it's new site.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Spring Color

The arrival of the the first bright spring color is always exciting for me. These crocus on the south side of my house usually bloom first.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Colonial Home

This classic Colonial home is located on Bowden Square. The front of the home is perfectly symmetrical with five windows on the second floor aligning with the four windows & entry door on the ground floor.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Solid Barn

This handsome masonry barn is located in Water Mill. Most of the barns here are designed to store potatoes. Set partially in the ground the earth outside the barn wall balances the force of the potatoes weight pushing out from inside. This rare barn built all above ground has buttress like braces to support the walls.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Stormy Weather

When the weather on the east end is stormy the Atlantic can get very churned up, instead of one row of breakers near the beach we get multiple bands of waves streching out into the ocean. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Organic Beach House


This oceanfront house was designed by the architect Norman Jaffe. The shape was intended to emulate the curves of the dunes in the area. The natural cedar roof also contributes to the organic feel of this home.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Boxwood and More

My friend Tom has this amazing garden in Water Mill. The garden is laided out as a progression of outdoor rooms, some with specific functions and others just there for the pleasure of passing through. The garden has a rich variety of evergreens making the garden fun in any season.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Pie Apples

The apples for my pie this year came from this orchard of craggy old trees. I know old vines make better grapes for wine, I like to think that also holds true for apples.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Like Living on a Boat

This home is perched on a spit of land on the edge of Mecox Bay. I imagine that every room must have views like one is in a giant cabin cruiser floating on the water.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Bright Gold Lichen

The winter sun made this lichen very colorful, not sure it came across on the photo.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Another New Trend

There has been an increase in new homes being built in this style. The mix of organic materials expressing nature has a nice warm feeling. I would group homes in this style as arts and craft style.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Topiary on an Open Road


This pair of tailored evergreens are on the north side of Hampton Road as you drive toward Water Mill. The trees are quite exceptional, more typicaly seen in a more formal garden enviroment. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Modern Masters

In the last few years a number of very fine modern homes have been built in the Hamptons. Master architect  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe  said "god is in the details" and these homes follow in that tradition.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Before and After

One more sign of spring, these light green buds about the width of the garden hose will leaf up into large ornamental rhubarb leaves. This plant is similar to elephant ears but much easier to grow, as its roots winter fine in our climate. Its leaves do not like to dry out in summer and can wilt almost flat to the ground after a long afternoon's heat. Then they come back up overnight to face another day.