Karen Cohen, director of sales at clothing company Reboundwear, was enchanted by the gardens and fell in love with the bones of their nearly 3-acre Hamptons home. ‘Totally charming,’ says Ms. Cohen, 69. ‘There are gardens everywhere.’ She and her husband Jack Hayflick, a former Goldman Sachs executive and now a real-estate agent, started renting the waterfront villa in 1997 as a weekend home. A year later, the owners decided to sell it. Although the place needed a renovation, the couple realized it had potential and bought it for $2.5 million. ‘We fell in love with it and thought about all the things we could do with it,’ Ms. Cohen says. Jake Rajs …  The couple continue to use the home, in Water Mill, N.Y., year-round on the weekends to escape Manhattan, where their primary residence is. After they bought the villa, Ms. Cohen and Mr. Hayflick say, they spent about $3 million on renovations and $1 million on landscaping. Here, towering cypress trees elegantly flank the iron-gated front door. Jake Rajs …  Ms. Cohen says she renovated the home in the style of a Tuscan villa where she and her husband have vacationed. The renovations include opening up the kitchen, adding rooms and lowering windows to allow views of the water behind their home. Jake Rajs …  Ms. Cohen says guests feel like they are in Europe. ‘It’s so peaceful, it doesn’t feel like the Hamptons,’ she says. ‘Nobody wants to leave.’ The couple say they have had as many as 250 people at their home to celebrate birthdays. Jake Rajs …  This screened-in gazebo was built as part of the renovation. Jake Rajs …  The dining room is connected to the eat-in porch. Ms. Cohen says she has had as many 25 people for dinner parties. Jake Rajs …  The sun room with Chinoiserie wallpaper. Jake Rajs …  The living room with coffered ceilings. Ms. Cohen has decorated the home with antique furniture throughout and she says would be open to leaving it if a buyer is interested. Jake Rajs …  The living-room porch with Palladian windows. The room also was built as part of the renovation, Ms. Cohen says. (An earlier version of this incorrectly described the windows as palladium windows.) Jake Rajs …  The master bedroom, which has access to an outside sitting area. You can see the sunrise while lying on the bed, says Ms. Cohen. There are five bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms. Jake Rajs …  The master bathroom. Mr. Hayflick says the floor tiles were inspired by a mosaic table he saw in Italy. The bathroom sinks were imported from Turkey. Jake Rajs …  ‘There are many places to sit and enjoy yourself,’ says Ms. Cohen, adding that she has spent more time outdoors than indoors. Here, a view of Mecox Bay. Jake Rajs …  The pool can be heated to as high as 90 degrees. There is also a pool house. Jake Rajs …  The couple say they hire a gardener and landscaper to help maintain the grounds. Here, one of the home’s two moon gates. Passing through it brings good luck, Ms. Cohen says. Jake Rajs …  Ms. Cohen says she would love to keep the home, but that since she and her husband are getting older it is difficult to maintain. ‘This is for the family that adores the outdoors and entertaining,’ she says. Ms. Cohen and her husband say they have expansion plans if a buyer wants more space. Ms. Cohen says the home is one minute from the highway and the beach. Jake Rajs …  The home, listed with Beate V. Moore of Sotheby’s International Realty, has an asking price of $10.5 million. Jake Rajs …  Home in Hamptons Where Gardens Are the Star
The owners of this nearly 3-acre waterfront villa in the Hamptons spend more time outside than they do inside.