Walnut-stained floors anchor the living room’s custom sectional sofa and chair, slipcovered in Rogers & Goffigon sailcloth.
White lacquer and nickel-plated hardware reinvigorated a vintage campaign desk and director’s chair.
Thonet club chairs covered in herringbone cotton flank the living-room fireplace.
Unsigned (on cast-aluminum easel) and student art work (on table) share the limelight.
Tongue-and-groove fronts revived the kitchen’s existing cabinetry.
The custom banquette seats 12. Pillow fabrics from Perennials and Kravet (fish print).
White and black lacquer unifies a collection of vintage rattan seating.
Coach leather upholsters the bed. The 1950s recliner is Italian.
A Noguchi lamp stands beside a Hans Wegner chest, a local find.
of

sea change

Designer Blair Gordon redefines a Southampton beach house—in six short weeks
Type: 
Interior Design
Author name: 
GORDON ALVARADO LLC
Type: 
Text
Author name: 
MARJORIE E. GAGE
Type: 
Photography
Author name: 
PETER MURDOCK

The power of a real-life Cinderella story lies in its capacity to make us believe in magic. Here’s one about a house in Southampton.

One spring day not very long ago—when the real estate market was still going gangbusters and finding an unpretentious cottage near the beach could seem like searching for a castle in the air—Michael Tucci,President of Coach’s North American retail division,discovered a humble shingled house that had all the makings of the perfect weekend retreat: All it needed was ...well,everything.

That’s when Tucci remembered an article he’d read in the New York Times about Gordon Alvarado, a Manhattan-based real-estate invest- ment and design firm that specialized in turning properties with “poten- tial” into dream homes for clients who valued quality—quickly.Principal Blair Gordon,a former marketing guru for J.Crew,had a way of wielding white paint and dark-walnut stain like a proverbial magic wand.But his real secret weapon was his rare ablity to combine project management with an eye for materials that would stand the test of time (no turning back into a pumpkin as soon as the owners take the reins).

For Tucci,whose discerning eye demanded a sophisticated interior but whose tightly booked schedule precluded a hands-on rehab project, collaboration with Gordon was a smart match. Six weeks before Memorial Day, the start of the Hamptons summer season, Tucci pre- sented Gordon with a generous budget but a no-budge six-week dead- line to bring in everything from paint and custom upholstery to antique furniture and fine art.Impossible? Seeing is believing. 

Resources:

Blair Gordon of Gordon Alvarado, 575 Madison Ave., 10th Fl., NYC 10022; 212.727.1971; blair@gordonalvarado.com; gordonalvarado.com. Slip covered sofa with cushion blanket, and slip covered chair with cushion blanket were custom by Blair Gordon of Gordon Alvarado, 575 Madison Ave., 10th Fl., NYC 10022; 212.727.1971; gordonalvarado.com. Rogers & Goffigon, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1718, NYC 10022; 212.888.3242. Chocolate blanket and pillow frabric are from Perennials at David Sutherland, 979 Third Ave., Suite 813, NYC 10022; 212.871.9717; perennialsfabrics.com. Cecil Touchon, touchon.com. Cecil Touchon at Sears Peyton Gallery, 210 11th Ave., Suite 802, NYC 10001; 212.966.7469; searspeyton.com. Tripod floor lamp is from  Aero, 419 Broome St., NYC 10013; 212.966.1500;  aerostudios.com. Heywood Wakefield, heywood-wakefield.com. (pages 56–57) Vintage natural wood campaign desk, chair, and sailfish head were given new life with white lacquer and nickel plated hardware by Blair Gordon of Gordon Alvarado, 575 Madison Ave., 10th Fl., NYC 10022; 212.727.1971; gordonalvarado.com. Graphite and wax transfer on paper art is by Doug Glovaski, glovaski.com. Doug Glovaskiat Sears Peyton Gallery, 210 11th Ave., Suite 802, NYC 10001; 212.966.7469; searspeyton.com. Coach, 595 Madison Ave., NYC 10022; 212.754.0041; coach.com. Ruby Beets, 25 Washington St., Sag Harbor, NY11963; 631.899.3275; rubybeets.com. Danielle Quarante at Mantiques Modern, 146 W. 22nd St., NYC 10011; 212.206.1494; mantiquesmodern.com. Vintage 1950s metal floor lamp is fromR E Steele Antiques, 74 Montauk Highway, East R  Hampton, NY 11937; 631.324.7812. Thonet club chair fabric is from Rogers & Goffigon, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1718, NYC 10022; 212.888.3242. Orange fish print pillow fabric is from Kravet, 979 Third Ave., Suite 324, NYC 10022; 212.421.6363; kravet.com. Custom nickel plated fire screen was custom by Blair Gordon of Gordon Alvarado, 575