Step Inside a Historic Home in Southampton Reimagined by William T. Georgis

“They’re young, they’re cool, they’re fun and low-key, they collect art, and they’re adventurous,” says Georgis. Indeed, “adventurous art collector” pretty much describes the typical client of Georgis & Mirgorodsky, the New York City and La Jolla, California–based firm he heads with Ilya Mirgorodsky.

In Georgis, the couple found a kindred spirit—educated, charming, and well traveled—perfectly suited to bringing their sophisticated tastes to life. In fact, this project went so well that they’ve since hired Georgis to do a multiyear renovation of their Park Avenue triplex as well as a recently purchased home in Palm Beach.

In Southampton, speed was a big priority for the clients, and the architectural alterations were kept modest: crafting up-to-date baths, adding a shaded terrace off the living room—itself an addition to the original structure. The house came with a few “gifts with purchase,” including a piano, a Savonarola chair, and a classic Mies van der Rohe chaise, originally upholstered in beige leatherette but now sporting a crisp pink linen. “It was fun, like a chess game,” says Georgis of integrating these inherited objects.

Although the work was done over just a few months, Georgis was still able to weave in the kind of elevated, bespoke details that enliven his more time-intensive projects. The dining room’s custom cherry-red table features a base of steel plates reminiscent of an Alexander Calder sculpture. The primary bedroom sports a custom Portuguese needlepoint rug and a coverlet made from vintage Venetian silk velvet commissioned by an adoring owner to mimic the coat of his pet beagle. The winsome guest bedroom features an ivy-print rug and a desk that the European-born client toted from Germany to Oxford to Manhattan and now Southampton, where it has anchored his work-from-home setup for the past year.

Naturally, a new home calls for new art, including pieces by Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Marilyn Minter. The couple also acquired several works directly from Julian Schnabel, who has ties to the Hamptons. One of his “Des + Gina” paintings hangs in the entry hall, while another large canvas presiding over the dining room is provocatively scrawled with the words “Yacht Club Shit.” Mixed among the blue-chip art are portrait photographs of the husband’s family spanning many generations.

The homeowner reports that friends with weekend homes nearby, “even those with larger, fancier houses, some also designed by Bill Georgis, all say ours is just perfect.” Adds Georgis, “The house is not precious at all, which I like. It has an easy, lived-in feeling. It’s not studied or overlabored.”

In other words, this home was not Georgis in his full maximalist glory. And that was the intention. “It’s fun not being so serious,” the designer says. “This wasn’t our typical project in that it was put together quickly and on a budget. But it captures the couple’s sensibility and point of view.”

The client agrees. Working within their parameters, he says, “Bill really just hit all the right notes.”

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2021 Summer Issue under the headline “Happy Medium.” Subscribe to the magazine.

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Step Inside a Historic Home in Southampton Reimagined by William T. Georgis

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A couple commissioned architect and designer William T. Georgis to renovate the nearly century-old Colonial Revival, situated in the village of Southampton, in just a handful of months. The stand-alone living room at left was a later addition to the original structure.

Photograph by Richard Powers

Isamu Noguchi paper lanterns stained by William T. Georgis hang above a variety of seating in the living room, anchored at the center by a large custom-made Georgis & Mirgorodsky ottoman. Galerie Maison et Jardin bamboo armchairs mingle with a vintage glass-top Sputnik table, while a pair of 1970s Milo Baughman sofas face off next to the fireplace. Midcentury hurricane sconces from Lu2019Art de Vivre flank the Andy Warhol portrait of Grace Kelly above the Louis XVIu2013style mantelpiece, and the rug is by Patterson Flynn Martin.

Photograph by Richard Powers

A Julian Schnabel work in a Southampton home designed by Georgis & Mirgorodsky.

Photograph by Richard Powers

Creating a sophisticated mix of styles and textures in the dining room, Georgis installed 19th-century Chinese lanterns fashioned of rosewood and marble above the custom-made table in powder-coated steel and Eero Saarinen chairs with a fiberglass seat; curtains in a wood-grain-pattern fabric by Brunschwig & Fils frame the vintage Edward Wormley sideboard, and the painting is by Julian Schnabel.

Photograph by Richard Powers

Another Schnabel painting presides over the media room, where faux-marble panels conceal the television mounted above a custom-made cabinet; Georgis & Mirgorodsky also designed the sofa, the barrel-back chairs are by Milo Baughman, the tray and faux-bamboo stand are 19th century, the vintage lamp is by AH Kag Switzerland, and the rug is by Rosemary Hallgarten from ALT for Living.

Photograph by Richard Powers

In a guest room, a Hinson stripe serves as the backdrop for family portraits; Georgis & Mirgorodsky designed the bed, which is upholstered in Frette fabric and draped with a coverlet made from an antique Japanese monku2019s robe, while the curtains are of a Kravet fabric and the rug is by Stark.

Photograph by Richard Powers

A Mattias Stenberg lamp perches on a Missoni side table near the bedroomu2019s window seat, where 19th-century insect exhibition cases are displayed.

Photograph by Richard Powers

Clad entirely in Carrara marble, the main bath is outfitted with a Waterworks tub and fixtures as well as a table from Mecox Gardens.

Photograph by Richard Powers

Georgis added a covered terrace at the back of the house, overlooking the pool.

Photograph by Richard Powers