Homes are what happens when a house is filled with love. For us, our first “home” was this 120-year-old, 3 bedroom farmhouse in Greenport, NY. At the time, I had been living and working in New York for almost 15 years, and was getting “the itch;” the need for more space, to spread out, and to have enough projects to scratch the creative longing to make a space of my own.

When Andy and I went to look at houses in Greenport, I had already found this listing. Our broker hadn’t seen it yet and didn’t know if he could get us in, but I told him “this is the only house I need to see.” I just had a feeling it was the right place. When we got inside, it was…a ‘before.’ EVERY surface was carpeted. All the walls were covered in bad wallpaper, and there were about three layers of drapery on every window. The home – which had been in one family the entire time – was in need of updating and new energy. But by the time I walked upstairs, and seeing the sweet little  newel post, I was in love with this house.

We left, had two glasses of wine, and made an offer. When we were awakened the next morning with a call saying it was accepted, it took us a minute to realize…we were buying our first house.

Thus began a three year project to restore, update, decorate and landscape our little seaside place. It started with the foundation – literally. We needed to replace two foundation walls of the house. Nothing like propping up your house on temporary stilts to keep you up at night. At the same time, we took on updating all the systems – AC, electrical, plumbing…you name it. Unsexy work for sure; I always tell clients that most of their money is going into the walls, and that was certainly the case on Manor Place, too.

Scrappiness was required for us to spread out our budget and get as much done inside as possible. My friend Dan came on what he thought was to be a relaxing overnight, and instead spent the weekend helping me demo walls, kitchen cabinets, and tearing up all the carpet in the house. (THANK YOU DANNY!) We were finally ready to start putting things back together…or so we thought.

What I love about an old house is all the charm – old doors and hardware, original moldings and trims, single pane windows that are so drafty, but so beautiful when the light hits them. However, updating an old house is much like pulling a thread on a sweater – in this case, when removing the wallpaper throughout, all the plaster came down with it. Thank goodness for our amazing painter, who came out from the city with his team and lived nearby for a month, to help re-plaster every surface, and save the project.

We put in a whole new kitchen, complete with custom cabinets and Arabescato countertops (our only fight of the whole project, amazingly.) Two bathrooms were entirely gutted and put back together, with hand-clipped Carrara and custom vanities. Original floors were refinished downstairs, and painted a glossy white upstairs, a move I’d been dreaming of for our home since we started to look. And in the happiest of surprises – removing sheetrock in the old dining room revealed full height original beadboard, which we kept and painted a glossy white, to celebrate all the imperfections.

When it came time to decorate, I went to my archive (how fitting.) For years, I had been collecting items that I knew would one day have a place in our “beach house.” Friends joke that I kept a box under my bed labeled as such (which…I did.) Our home took shape as a loving collection of items I had, things from my childhood, new items, and local North Fork finds. Throughout the 5 years we owned this house, we continued to add to the space, with local art and items from our travels.