COMPOUND INTEREST

For an exceptional family home on Long Island, designer Sandra Weingort thinks inside the box.

- Camille Okhio

Many design studios won't touch a rental, but for the Miami- and New York-based interior designer Sandra Weingort, it was a rental that led her to the project of her dreams. Weingort, who founded her company in 2012 after nearly a decade at the ELLE DECOR A-List Titan firm Studio Sofield, was discovered by the renter's parents via Instagram. They asked if she might consider taking on their daughter's New York City apartment if it meant next working on their 11,000-square-foot compound in Wainscott, New York, a Hamptons hamlet as famous for its farm stands as its pristine beaches. She said yes.

The home was designed by Bates Masi + Architects and completed in 2022, with interiors previously overseen by David Kleinberg Design Associates. "I almost declined, because I usually only do projects from the start," says Weingort. "But then the clients mentioned it was built by Bates Masi, whom I already knew and loved." She was given carte blanche to reimagine the living spaces for the family-oriented, art-collecting couple.