FEATURES

INTERIOR DESIGNER KERRY DELROSE BRINGS MODERN FLAIR TO THE YEAR-ROUND SECOND HOME OF DEAR FRIENDS IN SAG HARBOR

For some, the arrival of autumn's chill is a signal to head west—back to school, to main residences, to more parties and buzz. For others, fall is when the Hamptons is just hitting its stride. The traffic lightens, the restaurants become less of a scene and, of course, the trees turn golden.

"Summer is wonderful and exciting, but it feels cozier in the autumn and the winter," concedes the wife of one such New York couple who relish the changing seasons from their pond-front Victorian in Sag Harbor. "It's also hard to see the pond in the summer because of the growth, but come winter, you can see it in its entirety."

For years the couple, both former Broadway performers, had been coming to stay in Sag Harbor with their longtime friend, Kerry Delrose, now director of design at Thom Felicia Inc. After much house hunting throughout the Hamptons, they decided this was an ideal place for a second home. "To be able to walk to town is great," says the wife.

Delrose led the couple to a charming, late-19th-century three-bedroom home with gingerbread fretwork. "They wanted something simple, and I knew they didn't need one of those big estates," he explains. They also wanted a departure from their Fifth Avenue apartment that they describe as formal, Neoclassical and filled with color. Says Delrose, "They wanted something a little more fun, a little beachy, a little lighter." When they discovered this house was available, they bought it immediately.