Hamptons gem: a creative legacy lives on in Elaine de Kooning’s house

Over on Alewive Brook Road in East Hampton, there is a simple saltbox structure and studio with a provenance steeped in art. Artist Elaine de Kooning purchased the home in 1975 while she was reconciling with her husband Willem de Kooning. She added a sunroom and studio that would end up being the location where she would paint her last series of works, Bacchus and Cave Walls. When de Kooning passed away at age 70 in 1989, sculptor John Chamberlain purchased the house and lived there for around five years in the 1990s, creating his crushed car metal sculptures in the driveway.
The bucolic seaside location of the Hamptons has always been a place conducive for producing art; Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol all made work there, and when Chris Byrne, an art advisor and co-founder of the Dallas Art Fair, saw that the home was on the market in 2011, he envisioned a future where its new owners would forget its association with the art world, so he bought it. 'I was motivated by the house's history,' says Byrne. Since purchasing the house in 2010, he has made renovations, painstakingly preserving each of the modifications its former owners added.
'You get the feeling that anywhere in the house could be used to set up a portrait or make painting,' he says, noting that Willem also worked out of the house. Thus, Byrne turned the home into the location for an unofficial artist’s residency, inviting artists he knows to create work there.
Lizzi Bougatsos, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, Liz Markus, Scott and Tyson Reeder, John Riepenhoff, and Michael Williams are among the artists who have turned the de Kooning house into a temporary home and work space since 2011. There’s no formal application process for artists who are interested in participating in the residency there. 'The process has been completely organic; visiting artists and friends have recommended artists as well as proposed specific installations and projects for the space,' Byrne explains.
Byrne plans to keep de Kooning’s work as a mentor and teacher to young artists alive by continuing to cultivate creativity within the home. 'I’ve come to really respect her range of activities and generosity,' he says. 'My hope is to continue to make the space available to artists, curators and writers.'
The saltbox house was where de Kooning produced her last body of work before her death in 1989.
Art advisor and curator Chris Byrne bought the house in 2010 and has since transformed it into an unofficial artist's residency.
Lizzi Bougatsos, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe and Liz Markus are among the artists who have lived and worked at the house. 'The process has been completely organic; visiting artists and friends have recommended artists as well as proposed specific installations and projects for the space,' said Byrne. Pictured: Anke Weyer and her work.
'I was motivated by the house's history,” said Byrne. 'You get the feeling that anywhere in the house could be used to set up a portrait or make painting.' Pictured: Tyler Reeder at work.
Artist Michael Williams takes his work out onto the grounds.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ann Binlot is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who covers art, fashion, design, architecture, food, and travel for publications like Wallpaper*, the Wall Street Journal, and Monocle. She is also editor-at-large at Document Journal and Family Style magazines.
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’
As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local train
An exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Fountainhead – a shining example of Usonian design – is now on the market
This quintessential Wright home – built in a vibrant mid-century neighbourhood – was named after a novel inspired by the architect
-
The dynamic young gallerists reinvigorating America's art scene
'Hugging has replaced air kissing' in this new wave of galleries with craft and community at their core
-
Meet the New York-based artists destabilising the boundaries of society
A new show in London presents seven young New York-based artists who are pushing against the borders between refined aesthetics and primal materiality
-
‘Her pictures looked like pictures everybody knew were the truth’: Diane Arbus at the Armory
Matthieu Humery curates more than 400 of Arbus’ photographs at New York’s Park Avenue Armory – every picture she was known to have printed
-
Mystic, feminine and erotic: the power of Penny Slinger’s bodies as landscape
Artist Penny Slinger continues her exploration of the sacred, surreal feminine in a Santa Monica exhibition, ‘Meeting at the Horizon’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
It was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this week
This week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
Photographer Geordie Wood takes a leap of faith with first film, Divers
Geordie Wood delved into the world of professional diving in Fort Lauderdale for his first film
-
New book celebrates 100 years of New York City landmarks where LGBTQ+ history took place
Marc Zinaman’s ‘Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places’ is a vital tribute to queer culture