The Hamptons is well known as the summer retreat of the rich and famous. Large sprawling homes on the beachfront with gorgeous gardens and pools to match make this area of the world swoon worthy.
Over the past few years the Hamptons look has become very popular in Australia as we've started to embrace this style and adapt it to the Australian way of living. Depending on where you live the Hamptons style could be a little more relaxed and coastal if you're near the beach, or mixed in with a modern country look.
Hamptons style can be defined as classic, elegant and sophisticated but also warm and friendly. A soft colour palette is generally used with plenty of natural textures. Lots of light, high ceilings, large timber windows, built in cabinetry and a timeless appeal are the key design elements to this style.
My Hamptons Story
When we purchased our half acre block of land with beautiful views, I knew the style of home that I always wanted but it was a difficult road to achieve our dream. Four years ago, the Hamptons style was just coming into popularity, so it wasn't a case of simply finding a builder, pointing to a display home and saying 'yes please I'll take that one'. We needed an expert to bring our Hamptons dream to life.
In designing our home I used magazine clippings from gorgeous homes that I had saved for years, and images saved on Pinterest to communicate the style I was after. I took a whole folder to our architect and builder, and sat with them both for hours going through the exterior and interiors, piecing the style together bit by bit for our dream house. I think my builder had a slight heart attack during the process - what I was designing wasn't something they had built before!
Images below are just a small example of the images I saved on Pinterst during this build - I literally had hundreds!
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| This home was the inspiration to the colour scheme and weatherboard details |
Our land is located closer to the mountain ranges and far from the beach, so it made sense to mix the classic Hamptons style with a modern country look.
My architect was fabulous and delivered exactly what we were after - a mix of Hamptons and modern country style - a home with street presence, one that you have to stop and look at as you drive by. It has a classic and timeless appeal, high ceilings and lots of natural light. We took into consideration the size of the land, the large 38.5 metre street frontage and situated the house and living areas to the amazing views with floor to ceiling windows.
The look of the exterior was one of the most important areas to design - I wanted it to be timeless and well built. We mixed exterior elements to achieve the Hamptons meet modern country look, using render with weatherboard details for interest. The front elevation was staggered slightly to go in and out so it prevented our very long house looking 'ranch style'. We also used 200 x 200 thick veranda posts to the verandas to give the house a very solid well-built feel. The colour palette was kept soft but still had contrast.
Read more - Get the Hamptons look with Sycon Linea weatherboards
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| Our architect plans - front elevation |
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Back Elevation
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Classic and timeless features such as high ceilings, large skirting boards and cornice, timber windows, solid hardwood flooring and shaker style cabinetry throughout were some of the design features we included.
Almost every element used, whether it was the style of windows and doors, to the smaller details such as cabinetry hardware had to be researched and sourced independently - it was a lot of work but I actually enjoyed the design process immensely and the end result is a home that we adore and suits us perfectly as a family.
If you love the Hamptons style and lifestyle and are ready to build your dream home, I suggest pinning all the images of homes, rooms and features you love. This will give you a great starting point and makes it much easier to communicate the style you are after to your builder. Next, work with an architect or building firm to design your home keeping in mind the location, size and orientation of your block. Make sure the design of the home, suits you and your family all the while keeping to your budget ( easier said than done!) The Hamptons style is such a classic look and I think it's a style that will never date.
Would I do it again?? Its a good question! I think I'd like to stay in this home until we're old and grey - its our forever home after all!
