By now, you’ve probably seen this Southampton home in the July-August 2018 issue of Architectural Digest and numerous blogs. I’ve found more photos and have a personal connection so I thought it warranted a post of my own. As soon as I saw the name of the owner, Mary Ann Tighe, I recognized it immediately. I was working at the commercial real estate firm CBRE in 2002 when she came on board as CEO of the Tri-State region.

I had transferred from Boston to CBRE in New York in August 2001 where I worked on internal branding and marketing development for a tech group within the company. It’s where I learned about hyperlinks and marketing that would serve me well when I decided to name and start Habitually Chic in 2007. One of the reasons I decided to leave commercial real estate for interior design in 2005 was the male domination in the industry. There were very few executive positions for women and a lot of sexual harassment and discrimination.

I’m not telling you this story to bad mouth my former firm but to illustrate how amazing it is that Mary Ann Tighe was able to navigate the commercial real estate industry and work her way to the top. Mary Ann Tighe is someone who started out with humble beginnings and worked hard for her success which is why she appreciates this home in Southampton so much.

She also had very distinct ideas of what she wanted including an entry by David Adler that architect Michael Dwyer adapted for the home with builder Frank Cafone. Illustrious interior designer Bunny Williams was brought on to decorate and landscape designer Quincy Hammond created the beautiful gardens. The end result is the perfect house she always dreamed about.

To read the entire story and find credits, click here.