Knocking Down Walls Transformed This Westhampton Home

When some of New York designer Vicente Wolf’s long-time clients wanted to refresh the look of their Westhampton home, he looked at the space and decided to start with the basics. He saw potential in not just giving the home’s decor a facelift, but in opening up the space to completely change the way they lived in it. He took down a wall in the main first floor living area so the family could cook, dine and entertain all in the same big room, and he chose a super-neutral color palette to keep the focus on the stunning views from the home. We asked Vicente how you can use his principles in your own mission to refresh your space.

Vicente went with a neutral palette here to really emphasize the views from the home’s large windows. Located in Westhampton, on Long Island, the house has views of wetlands just outside, with towering grasses. Just beyond, you can watch boats sailing, and at sunset, the whole house gets a beautiful pink glow. “I wanted, when you came in, to not have anything distract from the outside,” Vicente says. “By keeping it neutral, it sort of focuses your eye to the exterior.”

Vicente took down the wall to the right and the one covering part of the stairs as part of the redesign of this home. “There were a lot of walls,” he says. “All these different rooms — dining rooms, living rooms, hallways — so opening it up was my way of dealing with making it feel more contemporary and less '50s [or] '60s.” He also painted the ceiling in a semi-gloss to give the space an even more open and reflective feel. Now, the dining room opens into the kitchen, so when the family is entertaining guests, it’s all happening in one large room and everyone stays connected.

In this before picture, you can get a better sense of the coastal views Vicente wanted to emphasize by creating minimal visual distractions on the inside of the house. You can also see the original terra-cotta floors of the home, which he had sanded to remove the glaze, then stained black to completely change their look.