Over the years, interior designer Annalise Taft-Gersten and her husband James Gersten, principal at Silver Street Hospitality, have weathered their share of renovations—a 1900s Connecticut farmhouse where they channeled London charm, a midcentury gem designed for entertaining, and two New York City apartments in historic buildings. This past year the couple decided to pivot and simplify. They sold off their real estate and transformed a Hamptons investment property in Sag Harbor into a forever home.
“We didn’t want all the responsibilities,” says Taft-Gersten. Add to that an empty nest—a daughter in college and a son at boarding school—which made the timing ideal.
Built in the 1950s, the wood shingled house was more of a summer cottage than a year-round residence. Taft-Gersten leaned into the cottage aesthetic but elevated it into her own Scandinavian interpretation, driven by Long Island’s magical light, which has inspired artists like Leslie Sokolow, David Salle, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. In his 1972 poem called “In the Hamptons,” John N Morris aptly described it as “clear as gin.”
“The light and the privacy of the property captivated us,” she explains. As Taft-Gersten began to chase the sun, she ended up doing a total gut renovation for a downsize that strategically used every inch of the 2,200-square-foot-home. “It feels lighter, and less wasteful,” says the designer, who also runs the ALT for Living showrooms. “You’re not filling up rooms because they need to be filled; you end up living only with the things you love.” The permanent move to the Hamptons also allowed Taft-Gersten proximity to her Sag Harbor interior design business and AD PRO Directory firm the 1818 Collective, which she cofounded with Kristin Fine.
Shop out the look of the house here⤵
