Sometimes you just know, and Manhattan-based Kearnon O’Molony toured only one home before pulling the trigger on his first Hamptons getaway, a 1968 Andrew Geller–designed beach house in Amagansett Dunes with a cantilevered roof and a series of angled windows. “It’s geometrically amazing,” says the South African–born O’Molony, an investor in consumer brands including Serena & Lily and CUUP. “I fell in love with its simplicity, its small size, and how functional it seemed to be.” But 50 years near the ocean “had taken its toll on the wooden structure,” he explains, “and the chimney was basically holding up the house.” So O’Molony tapped architect Clay Coffey—of the North Fork and Brooklyn–based design firm Isaac-Rae—and Wainscott builder Charles Gallanti to restore the 2,000-square-foot residence to meet current building and environmental codes pertinent to the wetlands on the property.
The pool deck was updated and connected with the new upper deck. “I needed to be able to entertain outside,” says O’Molony. “This house is always full of life. It gives me so much joy.”
“This was very much an old-school, open-air beach house, and Kearnon wanted it to be a four-season home,” says Coffey, noting that the single-pane glass windows needed to be replaced with double-pane—a task that was easier said than done. “We had to reengineer and strengthen the entire structure in order for it to support insulated glass,” says the architect. “It was a smart move by Geller to employ these 45-degree inverted windows, though, as they allow light in while controlling heat gain. The goal was to maintain his vision but modernize it.”
Further to that end, O’Molony and Coffey decided on a few minor changes to the floor plan that would “maximize the space within the existing footprint,” says Coffey. On the main level, they removed one of the three guest rooms to create more space in the living and dining areas for frequent entertaining. Upstairs, the roofline was tweaked to add 200 square feet to the petite, windowless master bathroom, quadrupling its size. “The master suite is a respite,” notes O’Molony, “separated from the madness of the rest of the house.” And outside, the mahogany decking around the pool was reconfigured and connected to a new wraparound deck off the living area, which makes for seamless indoor-outdoor entertaining. “The house is always full of life,” says O’Molony. “It’s really a beach crash pad—an easy place to lounge around and crank out drinks for hours.”
Cedar extends into the kitchen, where it’s joined by quartzite countertops. “I cook outside 95% of the time,” says O’Molony, “but the kitchen, though small, is laid out so well that I can cook for 20 people in there.”
O’Molony at his Amagansett Dunes beach house, a 1968 Andrew Geller–designed residence that he recently restored.
The minimal furnishings—many of them specifically made for the residence—are in keeping with O’Molony’s laid-back lifestyle. “I like houses that feel lived in,” explains the homeowner, who had a little decorating help from friends Caitlin Levin and designer Pamela Shamshiri (of AD100 Studio Shamshiri) along the way. “We wanted it to be layered, unique, beautiful, and functional. It’s a hodgepodge of mid-20th-century, antique, custom, and African elements that comes together nicely.” The pièce de résistance, however, might be the 25-foot built-in sofa that runs the length of the living area and provides plenty of space for bathing-suit-clad guests to put their feet up between dips. (A similar banquette on the adjacent deck picks up where the interior sofa ends, giving the illusion of one long bench that runs from indoors to outdoors.)
One of these frequent guests is fellow Amagansett resident Athena Calderone . In fact, the lifestyle expert and creator of the blog EyeSwoon fell so much in love with her friend’s home that she photographed it for her second book, Live Beautiful (Abrams), which comes out in March. “I wanted to go into the residences of people I admire and learn about their creative processes, and I knew immediately that Kearnon’s experience of bringing this gem of a house back to life would be a compelling story to tell,” says Calderone. “There’s an undone quality that feels just right for a weekend home. It’s Kearnon’s sanctuary, where he really gets to slow down. There’s always vinyl spinning while Kearnon is outside grilling, and there are sandy feet and surfboards everywhere. It’s summer at its core.”