Vacation homes in the Hamptons have famously been rising in square footage in the recent past, following a sort of "more is more" architectural style.
But although plus-size estates are still being developed, Hamptons architect and historian Anne Surchin is starting to see more pared-down builds.
"There’s a trend now for design for smaller houses," the principal of Anne Surchin Architect said during a discussion Saturday in Montauk. "People are starting to think twice about being wasteful, so I think we’re going to see house size stabilizing." Ms. Surchin is also the author of "Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930 (Architecture of Leisure)."
Part of a larger event celebrating Hamptons architecture and design hosted by Mansion Global, Ms. Surchin was in conversation with Sterling Shea, the head of advisory and wealth management Programs at Barron's, which is owned by Dow Jones, the media company that also owns Mansion Global. (The event was sponsored by real estate firm Douglas Elliman and NetJets, which offers partial ownership of private jets.)
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The evening event took advantage of the ocean views at a 7,500-square-foot home on Old Montauk Highway currently listed for $23 million by Douglas Elliman.
Sterling Shea and Anne Surchin
Field Shoot Creative / Zach RossFormer New York Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams, who is also a Latin Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist, provided the musical entertainment with his band.
During the discussion, Ms. Surchin explained that towns like East Hampton and Southampton had started "enforcing house-size limitations. They’ve been McMansion-ed out."
These towns out on the East End of Long Island took it upon themselves to "put an end" to colossal new builds or renovations that extend beyond a home’s original footprint.
"They developed a proportioning system predicated on size of the property and size of the house," she said. "And to keep the houses small enough to be in character with the village without telling anyone how to design the house."
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Southampton has long-standing size limitations for houses, she said, with 20,000 square feet being the cap. These restrictions were part of a 1925 code that was updated in 2003, according to the East Hampton Star. Towns looked seriously at these codes after Ira Rennert’s controversial 62,000-square-foot mansion was built in the 1990s in Sagaponack, rankling neighbors with its size. East Hampton village adopted new restrictions in 2015, the East Hampton Star reported.
These smaller houses may harken back to Midcentury Modernism, which was based on simplicity and scaled back designs. Those homes were meant to be efficient and economical, Ms. Surchin explained.
"The new modernism is really all about formalism," she said. "It’s about making an aesthetic statement."
That includes "sumptuous details," like "exotic woods, polished concretes, all kinds of honed marbles," she said. "There isn’t a place in those houses where you’d find a piece of Formica."
Even those who don’t have the budget for luxe materials in every room are creating areas "that are absolutely lavish," she said. For example, "what they do with their kitchens is really important."
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Ms. Surchin, who moved to the Hamptons in the 1980s and now lives in the North Fork, also mentioned there’s an increased interest "in new technologies." Some design is being driven by "people interested in being off the grid and treading lightly on the land and not spending an arm and a leg to heat an 18,000-square-foot house."