REAL ESTATE

SCOOP THINKS EARLY SUMMER CROWDS AUGUR WELL FOR THE SEASON AHEAD

A North Fork Hybrid
For two new homes in Peconic (North Fork), design team Three Pillars took a traditional barn exterior and filled it with modern décor. Boasting views of nearby Raphael Vineyard, each five-bedroom, six-bath, 5,200-square-foot house is priced at

$3 million. Three Pillars is targeting the emerging market of wealthy young Manhattanites ready for a "new" North Fork, which they say is becoming a Hamptons alternative (thanks to the area's agrarian nature, replete with farms and vineyards), hence the English hay barn-style exteriors of the houses. Exclusive listing agent Sheri Winter Clarry of Corcoran (631-848-7730) feels "the time is ripe" for buyers looking for new construction that doesn't suggest McMansions or a subdivision. —H.B.

A Tale of Two Forks
The notion that life on the East End is bucolic becomes an illusion once The Season begins. Memorial Day arrived like a storm on the high seas. Without intent, the summer crowds, a disparate amalgam of personalities, turns this area into a veritable amusement park.

Spontaneity is impossible. You just can't walk into a restaurant and expect a table. Regulars of Nick & Toni's, for example, have been trained to book weeks in advance for dining there on weekends—particularly if you expect nothing less than front-room seating (a club-like scene with regulars gesticulating in unison).

I watched from my own perch Memorial Day weekend at a room of familiar faces. There were double Macklowe's (both brothers) at one table, and son Billy and wife at the next; a wave of prominent New York brokers, including Kathy Steinberg, hosting a group of six realtors; Linda Stein and John Golden hatching—no doubt—a big deal.