Holiday House Hamptons shows decorated Watchcase condos

For only its second year out east, the Holiday House Hamptons should certainly be getting lots of attention, if mostly for its locale. This will be the first chance for the non-buying public to go inside the still-in-progress Watchcase condo development in Sag Harbor, where the show house opens Sunday.

Forty of the 63 units at Watchcase Sag Harbor are already in contract, says Cee Scott Brown, of The Corcoran Group, the exclusive listing agent with Jack Pearson for the property. One -- an almost 2,000-square-foot residence in the original 1881 factory building listed for $3.25 million -- has been transformed by interior designers for the event. Also decorated are a town house, almost 3,500 square feet, listed for $4.36 million, and an attached "bungalow," measuring 1,100 square feet and on the market for $1.275 million.

While the three spaces now sparkle, eventgoers will need to use imagination when taking in the views from inside -- the 2.3-acre site is still very much a construction zone.

INSPIRED FROM WITHIN

Manhattan designer James Huniford tried to emphasize the industrial aspects of the architecture in the living room of the factory building loft -- its brick walls, arches in the windows, exposed beams -- choosing a crescent-shaped sofa, hanging chair and 10-foot-long table and bench. In the room is also a resin-encased globe of clock fragments atop an old metal spring, an homage to Bulova manufacturing there for almost five decades starting in 1936.

DIY TIP: Anchor the room with the color of the wall and the grain of the wood, says Huniford, who has a home in Bridgehampton, and add a surprising element like a huge piece of art. This room contains Louise Nevelson’s 1974 wall-size “City Series.”

SAND AND SEA

The beachy feeling continues in the town house's den, where East Hampton designer Elizabeth Dow combines a perfectly balanced palette of neutrals and blues that would work just as well in a landlocked place. A multimedia work Dow created depicting the sea hangs above the sofa, and a video taken by the water's edge of Dow's two dogs, Summer and Moon, continually plays on a television screen and on a wall in the hallway. Dow -- whose wallpaper is in the White House, including the Oval Office -- also chose to hang vintage surfing photographs in the space.

DIY TIP: To recreate the color scheme, Dow suggests starting with a paint color or a rug and building the decor from it. "Oftentimes, design is editing," she adds. "It's helpful to work with all the different elements at one time."

FLEXIBLE FURNITURE

The centerpiece of Manhattan designer-architect West Chin's pink-flecked living room in the town house is a white double-sided couch. "People like to break up conversation," says Chin, who sells the modular Extrasoft sofa pieces from Living Divani in his East Hampton store. As seen in the space, the sofa would cost about $15,000, he says.

DIY TIP: To copy the look, start by putting a couch in the center of the room and backing it with a credenza or a desk, Chin suggests. You also can try to put another couch against its back. "Not every couch is made for it, but some do work," he says.

ON THE WALL

Art provides continuity in Woodmere native Iris Dankner's space, which takes up most of the bungalow. It starts in the foyer with actor-artist Stephen Lack's "Passage," a 69-by-90-inch acrylic and dry pastel depicting a ship, chosen as an ode to the harbor village, and ends with two 42-by-42-inch silk-screens by artist Donald Sheridan titled "Flowers for Andy, V," and "Flowers for Andy, IX." This is the second time Dankner has done a space for Holiday House, a breast cancer research fundraiser that she, a 17-year survivor, founded in Manhattan in 2008.

DIY TIP: Resist the temptation to choose art because it matches the decor. "Choose art you love looking at," she says.

THE EUROPEAN LOOK

The 900-foot-terrace outside the factory loft received just as much attention as the rooms inside. Designers Ani Antreasyan of East Hampton, who is from Istanbul, Turkey, and Milly de Cabrol of Manhattan, who grew up in Italy, tried to recreate "the feel of south France" in the garden, says Antreasyan. There are olive trees, as well as all kinds of herbs, from lavender to sage, many in old pots from Europe. A pink potting bench reminds visitors of the purpose of the occasion.

DIY TIP: Kitchen gardens are easy to grow and are almost drought resistant, Antreasyan says, while providing atmosphere from across the pond. "If you're crazy about color, throw in some geraniums," she says. Make sure to use clay or terra cotta pots of varying heights to complete the look, she adds.

WHAT Holiday House Hamptons, presented by HC&G (Hamptons Cottages & Gardens), with proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation
WHEN WHERE Daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Sunday through Aug. 10, except July 4, at Watchcase Sag Harbor, 15 Church St.
INFO $35, which includes event journal; 212-472-3313, holidayhousehamptons.com