Esperanza and Irwin welcome Nilay Oza and Peter Sabbeth of Oza Sabbeth Architects of Bridgehampton. Architecture is an art form that incorporates math, science and engineering. But it's also a business. Nilay and Peter generously share the delicate balancing act of sensibility to the site with the needs of the client. The familiar Our Hamptons themes of commodity vs community, and the mindset behind building (too?) big are discussed. While it is a regional issue, Nilay and Peter illustrate the c...
Mar 13, 2023•35 min
Esperanza and Irwin travel back to 1957-1960 East Hampton. Despite the death of Jackson Pollock the year before, the Abstract Expressionist movement was thriving. Yet the East End was a more conservative place back then, and the Art displayed was more staid landscapes than abstraction. At least until the artists Elizabeth Parker, John Little and Alfonso Ossorio decided to change that. Taking over the space at 53 Main Street from the defunct Maidstone Market, the Signa Gallery was born. And in th...
Feb 27, 2023•37 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Esperanza and Irwin discuss the rich Ice Boating history on Mecox Bay. According to the Water Mill Museum, the sport itself originated in Holland in the early 1600's. The first known Ice Boat on Mecox was sailed by Daniel Hildreth and Charles Howell in 1837. The Mecox Bay Ice Yacht Club started with 12 members and 5 boats in 1927. Ice Boating was about speed, and the sport itself was physical, and very competitive. The racing on Mecox throughout the 20th century tended to be about one thing: win...
Feb 13, 2023•37 min
Esperanza and Irwin discuss the sheer beauty of Gerard Drive in Springs. Best seen on foot or on bike, Gerard Drive runs between Gardiners/Napeague Bay and Accabonac Harbor, and the vistas change depending on the direction you travel. But Gerard Drive's history is equally compelling. Daniel and Carolyn Gerard purchased the 250 lots for $125,000 in the 1930's from the Town, who constructed the road in exchange for 9 acres of parkland, named Carolyn Gerard Park. But the narrow strip of land was al...
Jan 30, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Esperanza and Irwin welcome onelandscape.org founder Margie Ruddick. With a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard, Margie's projects have taken her from Shillim in Western Ghats, India to Queens Plaza in Long Island City, NY. With onelandscape.org, Margie's focus is the conservation of wild landscapes by integrating science, art, policy, and community. Margie lives part time in the Amagansett home purchased by her parents in 1957, and the east end has influenced and inspired her...
Jan 16, 2023•35 min
Hard to believe, but 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of Bridgehampton Commons. Esperanza and Irwin dive head first into the writer Tim Ferguson's article "When A Shopping Mall Came To The Hamptons". One could argue that the Commons served as a metaphor for all the changes on the east end in the past half century. A shift in demographics, land use, development, the benefits of amenities and convenience at the cost of suburbanization. Are we grateful for it's presence? Was it the beginning of the...
Jan 02, 2023•34 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Esperanza and Irwin reminisce on the places and people they miss on eastern Long Island. As the conversation progresses, memories are jarred, and a bit of Holiday Season nostalgia prevails, including a brief "can you top this segment". We also reflect back on the past 18 episodes of Season One.
Dec 19, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Esperanza and Irwin reflect back on a haunting 2011 Vanity Fair article on the White Family Farm. Prior to becoming one of America's priciest zip codes, Sagaponack was primarily a farming community. And the White's, one of Sagaponack's oldest families, have farmed their land since the 1600's. The White's small cottages nestled in the Sagaponack dunes, were rented seasonally. The simplicity of the setting was one of a kind. But the story takes an unsettling and troubling turn. A different king of...
Dec 05, 2022•40 min
Esperanza and Irwin embark on a virtual Happy Hour back in time to the bars and taverns we love, and the characters that inhabited them. From the literati at the original Bobby Van's in Bridgehampton, with Capote, Matthiessen, Knowles and Plimpton to John Steinbeck at Barons Cove in Sag Harbor. Deep in the woods of Springs, Jungle Pete's had Pollock at the bar with baymen and Bonackers, while Pete's wife Nina cooked venison delivered to the back door by neighborhood hunters. The incredible dayti...
Nov 21, 2022•36 min
Esperanza and Irwin discuss Fair Field from the beginning to present day. The plan to construct a 100,000 square foot compound on 63 oceanfront acres sent shock waves throughout the East End. Fair Field had its own power plant, a 100 car garage and multiple outbuildings. Yet the compound violated no laws, in fact it taking up less than 10% of the property. While its sheer size was staggering, was it really any different than what occurred in the 19th century Gilded Age, or the grandeur estates c...
Nov 07, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Esperanza and Irwin pick up in the late 1950's heyday of The Bridge. Can-Am races, The Vanderbilt Cup, Nascar races all were happening in this era, with the world's greatest auto racers. But unfortunately, economic challenges, Southampton Town rezoning, development pressures and changing demographics created problems for The Bridge. An unlikely alliance between The Bridge and environmental groups, particularly The Group for the South Fork (now East End) occurred. The Bridge was championed by New...
Oct 24, 2022•31 min
Esperanza and Irwin discuss Bridgehampton's prominence as a mecca for auto racing in the early to mid 20th century. Hard as it is to fathom, auto racing took place on the streets of Bridgehampton from 1915-1921 and again from 1949 to 1953. After the NYS legislature banned racing in the streets, a group purchased almost 600 acres to the north, off Millstone Road. There, a challenging, European inspired racetrack aptly named The Bridge became one of the most important venues in the sport. We are e...
Oct 10, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Esperanza and Irwin welcome Build.In.Kind/East Hampton founder Jaine Mehring. To “build in kind” means to renovate or rebuild a structure basically as it is—in the same form and existing footprint. To those of us who live, visit or even read about East Hampton knows this is rarely talking place. In fact, for years now, we’ve been seeing the opposite – it’s been mainly “all demo, no reno.” And mostly, it’s been all about…BIGGER. Houses, even not very old ones, are demolished and replaced with new...
Sep 26, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Esperanza and Irwin discuss 100+ years of Bell Estate history and folklore. Dr. Dennistoun Bell’s 21 room Georgian Manor house on a bluff over Gardiner’s Bay, with outbuildings, guest cottages and a funicular! His generosity led to 120 Town preserved acres at Albert’s Landing and Fresh Pond. The end of the 20th century brought the power couple Reginald and Loida Lewis as the final lords of the manor. Subdivisions have consumed much of the 500+ acres, but there are glimpses still of what once was...
Sep 12, 2022•34 min
Leisurama Part 2 brings Esperanza and Irwin to present day Montauk. While many of the original Leisurama's have been renovated beyond recognition, or replaced by larger homes entirely, the bones are still evident. Past and current real estate ads for Leisurama are contrasted to the original marketing plan, and the value of an intact Leisurama as a piece of history is discussed.
Aug 29, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Esperanza and Irwin explore the crazy history behind Leisurama of Montauk. The story starts with a piece of history: the 1959 "Kitchen Debate" between Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev and Vice President Richard Nixon taking place in a...you guessed it...Leisurama Kitchen in the American National Exhibition in Moscow. The cast of characters now include the architect Andrew Geller, Marketing Director William Safire and Montauk legend Frank Tuma, as the story moves to 1964 NYC, where Leisurama's wer...
Aug 29, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Esperanza and Irwin return to 1950's Sag Harbor, and continue the incredible story of the sisters Maude Terry and Amaza Lee Meredith that led to the Azurest subdivision. We try to take you back through the words and tales of past and present residents including the late William Pickens, a patriarch and pillar of the community. We bring it into the present day, the efforts to try and gain historic recognition from Sag Harbor Village. And of course, the familiar story line of how excessive develop...
Aug 15, 2022•26 min
Esperanza and Irwin touch on Sag Harbor's rich history as a whaling port, and the diverse workforce employed in that industry, and at the Joseph Fahys Watchcase Factory in the 19th century. It all leads into Eastville, a community ahead of its time as Native Americans, African Americans, Europeans lived together in apparent harmony. We close in 1940's/50's Sag Harbor, and the extraordinary story of the sisters Maude Terry and Amaza Lee Meredith. The vision, the foresight, the courage to pursue a...
Aug 01, 2022•23 min
Esperanza and Irwin discuss the Shinnecock Monuments in both real and metaphorical terms. The monuments were installed in 2019 and 2021 to bring a much needed source of revenue to the Shinnecock Nation; 60% of the Reservation lives below the poverty line. Yet despite being a sovereign nation, the Shinnecock's and their monuments drew the wrath of local and state governments, not to mention much of the east end community. After this episode was recorded, we discovered the Parrish Museum was openi...
Jul 18, 2022•32 min
Esperanza and Irwin continue to delve deeper into Wainscott. The Wainscott Chapel, overlooking Wainscott Pond, and the Osborne homestead. The Wainscott Sewing Society, and their good deeds for the community. The Walker family, Wainscott's first African American family, the Conklin House, and of course, the iconic Georgica Association, one of the most unique enclaves on the east end, or anywhere for that matter.
Jul 04, 2022•30 min
Esperanza explains why she is "all in" as a Wainscott resident, and why she feels it's so important to raise her children there. She then joins Irwin on a virtual walking tour of the hamlet. Stops include the former Wainscott Post Office on Main Street, the general store on Hollow Road, and farms, vistas and viewsheds that have stood the test of time.
Jun 20, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Esperanza and Irwin look back on the abstract expressionist movement that thrived in Springs in the 1940's and 50's, and James Brooks and Charlotte Park's place within it. The abundance of art spaces with public access in Springs, including Pollock Krasner House, Duck Creek and the Lieber Collection. A virtual exploration of the 11 acre property replete with hiking trails, and the efforts to preserve and restore the Brooks Park home and studios, and reimagine it into an Art and Nature Center for...
Jun 06, 2022•28 min
Esperanza and Irwin discuss The Fulling Mill Farm, a dairy farm in full operation as late as 1959 in East Hampton's Georgica, now an underutilized nature preserve. A few short blocks away is The Apaquogue, an early 19th century boarding house with an extraordinary history and uncertain future. The lack of proper lodging in East Hampton in the early 20th century led to village residents renting and leaving their homes for summer "camps" on the shores of Three Mile Harbor. Finally a brief intro to...
May 23, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Esperanza and Irwin discuss development pressures in Amagansett's Poseyville. The conversation was inspired by architectural critic, writer and east end resident Paul Goldberger's recent letter to the East Hampton Star. The letter then led to a look back at Goldberger's iconic 1983 NY Times article, The Strangling of a Resort.
May 09, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The introductory trailer for OUR HAMPTONS. Neither Hamptons tabloid podcast, nor Hamptons news in review podcast, OUR HAMPTONS is dedicated to eastern Long Island history and folklore, an embrace of preservation, and an absolute celebration of our rich sense of place. Longtime East Hampton residents Esperanza Leon and Irwin Levy engage in conversations you'll want to eavesdrop on.
Apr 09, 2022•1 min
