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AN EAST ENDER RETURNS TO THE LAND OF HIS BIRTH AND UPDATES AN 18TH-CENTURY COLONIAL

The past is prologue for real estate veteran Peter Hallock. Not only does his family have deep roots on the eastern end of Long Island—his ancestors arrived on the North Fork from England in 1640—but the circa-1790s Southampton house that he began restoring in 1994 (first by himself and later with his partner, documentary filmmaker Craig Mowry) was once owned by the doctor who delivered Hallock at Southampton Hospital.

Hallock's purchase of the rambling, five-bedroom house, which had three extensions added over the centuries, happened seemingly by fate rather than by design. After graduating from Boston University, Hallock began his career in account management at ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in Manhattan but felt an urge to return to his birthplace. "I had moved away after school and never thought that I'd be living in Southampton again," he says. "Working in New York was an incredible experience, but not during the summer. My closest friends would pack up and take off for the Hamptons. At first I resisted but eventually I succumbed, rediscovering my love for the beach and a pace of life that I hadn't known since childhood."

Once Hallock arrived in Southampton, he never looked back. After working for years at Allan Schneider Associates, eventually becoming president, he is now Senior Managing Director with The Corcoran Group, having been amongst those forging the alliance of the two companies that was finalized last year.

Hallock worked with interior designer Kyle Wells and designer Christopher Parker on the renovation for several years, a process that is still ongoing. (Hallock still consults with Wells but now does most of the work himself.)