As the days get longer and the temperatures warmer, herds of New Yorkers are clogging up the Long Island Expressway on weekends to head out to the Hamptons. A longtime stomping ground for the well-healed, as well as for those that idolize the lifestyle of the well-healed, the area that was once an escape from the bustling city for artists and creatives has become an extension of the Big Apple in some ways. It’s no surprise, as the Eastern tip of Long Island offers bucolic beachfront living that you can’t experience in the craziness that is Manhattan.
Designer Mark Zeff also caught the Hamptons bug when he first visited back in 1985, and ever since has had “a love affair with the region’s wide-open farmland, rugged beaches, and the classic vernacular of barn structures that dot the landscape.” This love affair has resulted in the creation of BLACKBARN, a home he built for him and his family near the beach in Northwest Harbor. He created a 256-page book titled BLACKBARN that showcases the house in intimate detail, perfect for those that have always idealized the beachfront lifestyle of Hamptonites. Not just about design, the book is more about the lifestyle with stunning photographs by photographer Eric Laignel and personal photographs from Zeff himself.