Houzz Tour: Rolling With the Seasons in a New York Beach House

“This place didn’t have a soul,” says interior designer Heide Hendrix of her Manhattan clients’ newly built vacation house in Oyster Bay, New York. The homeowners had a wonderful start with antiques and a photography collection, but the home’s light neutral palette, fine in summer, felt cold in winter. Hendrix warmed it up for year-round enjoyment with layers of textiles, rich wood, artwork, pleasing color and patina, giving it the feel of a farmhouse with well-traveled owners. Now the house has the worn-in appeal of a favorite pair of jeans — cozy in winter but maintaining an airy beach vibe during the summer.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: This is the second home of a couple with 2 young daughters.
Location: Oyster Bay, New York
Size: 2,400 square feet (223 square meters), 4 bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms

Ceiling paint: Sharkskin Gray, Benjamin Moore; mirror: BDDW


The homeowners longed to make the living room, with its triple-height ceiling, cozier. “Proportions like this can eat up furniture,” Hendrix says. She made the ceiling feel lower by painting it a darker color and by adding an oversize antique copper lantern.

A large painting of a bisected tree adds a big punch of red. It too stands up to the room, halting the eye at one-story ceiling height; note how the top lines up with the transoms on either side. Thonet chairs add wonderful bentwood curves around a round 19th-century French tavern table.

Hendrix worked with her clients’ existing coffee table and sofa, which were well suited to the style she was going for. Inky indigo hues provide a global touch on pillows and the wingback chair’s suzani fabric.

Suzani fabric: Schumacher; art: Bryan Nash Gill; poufs: Hudson Supermarket; trim paint: Studio Green, Farrow & Ball; wall paint: Pointing, Farrow & Ball


Hendrix created a salon-style gallery of photographs from the family’s travels to balance the scale of the wall by the stairs. Vintage frames add to the grouping’s collected vibe.


Upstairs the hallway serves as a cozy library, a favorite spot in cold months. Hendrix had the owners’ existing chairs covered in green-apple velvet by Schumacher. Sheepskins also cozy up the house in winter; you’ll see them used throughout the second floor.


The kitchen exemplifies the moves Hendrix made. She reused as much as possible; the kitchen table and cabinets were existing.

The cabinets and trim are now a soft, beachy green that works well with antiques, and bin pulls add a simple farmhouse vibe. She added patina via an antique Belgian farm table that serves as an island, as well as large vintage light fixtures.

She had the floors stripped down to give them a natural, untreated look and layered beautiful textiles on the floor. Finally, she added more contemporary touches, like kitchen chairs from BDDW.

Belgian farm table: Privet House


In the corner of the kitchen, a unique wingback chair’s upholstery includes an oil painting canvas on the back, which picks up on the soft green trim.

Chairs: BDDW; trim paint: Teresa’s Green, Farrow & Ball


“I love a dark color on doors and trim,” Hendrix says. A grid of vintage metal numbers adds a graphic touch that stands up to the room’s size. Without them the table would have been lost against that big wall. Clip-on task lamps allow the space to serve as a work/project area as well as a dining area.

The family had a head start in their layers of textiles; on a recent trip to Turkey they picked out some dazzling kilims at the markets. Classic Cherner dining chars bring in a midcentury modern touch. The leather safari chair brings more textures to the mix.

Numbers: Vincent Mulford Antiques


The master bedroom is a contemporary interpretation of Shaker style, beautiful in its simplicity. The reproduction bed stands up to the vaulted ceiling.

Bed: The Country Bed Shop


Hendrix added the middle window to open the master bedroom to more water views. The blanket chest beneath it is an antique grain bin that’s been cut down.


The homeowners already had the antique beds in this bedroom. Hendrix added an industrial touch via the steel nightstands.

A sheepskin atop an Oriental rug feels wonderful on cold feet during the winter, while simple sconces provide good reading light. Another painted ceiling cozies up the space.

When warm weather comes again, simple changes like subtracting a few linens and the sheepskins will convert the room from cuddled up to light and summery.

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