Castles On The Sand 32 Millionaire Watch

As a college student in the ’90s, Kristen Farrell would arrive on campus two days early to deck out her dorm room. “Back then, it was Laura Ashley prints in every shade of blue, ” she says. “I had no idea what I was doing, but I had some interest, so, you know, I’d spray-paint a chair and refinish the seat. ” It was the first hint of her knack for designing a space top to bottom, and on deadline.

But first came a career as a lobbyist, followed by work in construction design and home staging. “I liked the problem-solving aspect—having a vision and then executing it to create a totally cohesive end result, ” she says. So it makes perfect sense that earlier this year, she launched Kristen Farrell Home, with the goal of bringing turnkey homes to clients with equal concern for time and money to spend on a vacation retreat. “It’s really conception to completion in a whole new way, ” says Farrell of the parcel-to-percale approach. Functionality comes first, and price points and delivery time are key. “Let’s get product here in four weeks, not 12, ” she says. “Let’s buy a sofa for under 10 grand, not 20 as a starting point.

Castles on the Sand

The launch of Kristen Farrell Home celebrates the talents of the stylish, detail-oriented designer and builder.

The open floorplan allows views into the dining room, with its glittering modern chandelier.

A view into the dining room

Which brings us to last October, when Farrell was at High Point, the famed furniture industry trade show, and happened to run into Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, whom she’d never met. Turns out they’d always wanted to work with each other. “We followed up with a fantastic lunch, ” she says, “and tossed around some ideas and by January 1, we had agreed to team up. ” Today, Farrell curates Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams product for Kristen Farrell Homes; a Kristen Farrell Home furniture collaboration is in development.

The first results were on display this summer at a stunning 8,000square-foot show home in Water Mill that came together in just six months. Every detail, from the pickled-oak floors to the pearlstitched sheets, was overseen by Farrell and the MGBW team. The furnishings were all Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams; the paint, from Farrell’s just-launched 24-color line for Sherwin-Williams, featuring a palette that reflects the soft neutral hues—Salt Bay, Montauk Gray—of the East End.

What’s next? Farrell, who recently bought an Airstream trailer, says, “They have no customized program, so, who knows? There may be a little Airstream custom development in the future, starting with my own!” farrellhome.com

The well-appointed patio, with furniture covered in chic grey indoor-outdoor upholstery

The kitchen contrasts marble and steel against a warm wood floor.

Watchcase Factory: Good Time

The former Bulova Watchcase factory in Sag Harbor has been transformed into luxury condominiums with up-to-theminute features.

Driving up Route 114 from East Hampton—past charming houses fit for turn of the 20th century whalers, gently updated to suit young families too cool for Hamptons potato fields—one could always mark Sag Harbor proper’s entry point by the sight of a majestic (if dilapidated) 5-story structure, a former factory of odd angles on the left, ivy creeping along its red bricks and hollowed, arched windows. Now refashioned as luxury lofts with adjoining townhouses, the Watchcase has stepped up to modernity with a sweet tinge of nostalgia—New England red brick an image of solid structures, in mills depicted in Beat writer Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, as visions of the American Dream.

That’s how the edifice started: In 1881 an immigrant from France, Joseph Fahys, moved his successful watchmaking factory from Carlstadt, New Jersey, marrying a local woman. The building replaced a cotton mill that had been destroyed by fire. Legend has it recruiters, seeking skilled machinists, signed them up fresh off the boat at Ellis Island, transporting them directly to Long Island. With economic collapse in the Depression, the site was sold to Bulova in 1936. The watches were made elsewhere, but the metals were smelt and cases hand-constructed here, until the Bulova Watchcase factory was shut down in 1981.

Elsa Soyars’ townhouse designs at Watchcase. Photo by Eric Strifler.

An Elsa Soyars-designed bedroom

That early care and expertise distinguishes the factory’s redesign by architects and interior designers, after a decades-long cleansing of contaminants from the drainage system, and transformation into living units. On a recent visit, Dave Thommen manned the lobby’s front desk; third generation from his family working at the site, his great-grandfather arrived from Switzerland in 1890. A fifthgeneration villager, Thommen was a firsthand witness as the project, built by Cape Advisors, a Manhattan-based developer, and designed by the architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle, the firm that oversaw the restoration of the historic Grand Central Terminal, went through its long transformation.

No detail is missed: The original factory smokestack has become a two-sided fireplace in a lounge area off the main lobby; a preciousmetal vault is now a refreshment alcove. Hip, refined and modest, hallways keep the factory vibe, and condos with 11- to 14-foot woodbeamed ceilings feature state-of-the-art kitchens, bathrooms and exterior space. Sotheby’s International Realty, which represents the remaining units for sale, enlisted design firms such as Elsa Soyars, Iconic Modern, Meridith Baer and Lynda Sylvester to put their stamp on the jewel-like rooms: plush pillows in geometric patterns adorn linen couches, and bamboo throws add color to beds, to give future residents a picture of how they might apply their own personal style. Iconic Modern enhances the spaces with one-of-a-kind, authentic furniture. Atop an underground garage, a workout room, gardens and renovated townhouses encircle a swimming pool. In a private penthouse, a Victorian-era water tower has been converted into a pavilion, a perch for panoramic views: of church steeples, the Peconic Bay and the waterfront. Sure, there are plenty of yachts. Yet, just a stone’s throw from Bay Street Theater, The American Hotel, and the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center planned for the town’s vibrant yearround community, Watchcase is grounded in industrial practicality, without losing romance. thewatchcasefactory.com

Food

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