Kats Eye: To Be Seen, Holiday House 2026

By Katlean de Monchy–

I ask myself: how do the Hamptons keep their cachet. When I went to the opening night party at Holiday House. I had a great opportunity to people watch.

Not in a creepy way. In a Kat’s Eye way. That’s the column I used to write (for 15 years) about social life for Dan’s Paper.

I watch what makes people stop talking and start laughing, what makes them pull out their phones and take a photo, or call a friend, what makes a room suddenly feel electric, and what makes someone say, “I’m glad I came.”

After years of observing events, I’ve learned that a successful party doesn’t just mean putting beautiful people together in a beautiful room. It means creating emotion.

6 Windy Hill Lane: Holiday House 2026

That is what I look for at a party, a cookout, a museum opening, a gala, a concert. When it’s a success, there is an electric moment when everyone comes together. That is what I am looking for.

The Hamptons is filled with extraordinary events, but not every one becomes memorable. So few live in memory. Mostly they meld together. One year blends with the last. Even if the venue changes, the theme, the music, the food. It’s the same people, the same goal, the same speeches.

It’s the sparkle that has to happen.

So let’s look at Holiday House Hamptons, held at a 10,000-square-foot spec house at 6 Windy Hill Lane in Bridgehampton. It ended August 30. This was the opening night party, August 14.

Cochairs Andrea Stark, left, and Campion Platt, center; philanthropy chair Jean Shafiroff, second from left, and founder of Holiday House Iris Danker, right. (Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini)

Iris Dankner could have simply repeated the traditional showhouse formula here. Instead, she reinvented it with the Summer Table. It was an immersive celebration of entertaining, design and gathering, while continuing to support her cause, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

A table setting by Duggan Society, a luxury tableware brand (Photo credit: Kristin L Gray Photography)

Previously. visitors at Hamptons Holiday House walked from room to room and asked themselves, do I like this room? Would I buy that sideboard? Would I paint a bathroom this color? How would I feel about hiring this interior designer?

Instead, this year people asked themselves, do I want to sit down at this table? Could I duplicate this setting? Does that banquette look comfortable?

It was rooms filled with tablescapes, installations and vignettes. Thoughts become: Who would I invite to dinner?

The vignette is by Collette Home Tabletop. (Photo credit: Eric Striffl)

When Andrea Stark showed me her table, I immediately understood her point of view. It had an Aspen sensibility, with everything kept in neutrals and drama coming from the texture. Natural materials like wood and layers of tactile elements created warmth without relying on strong color. It was luxurious but understated, and felt like Aspen had somehow been transported to the Hamptons.

That is what I mean. You don’t just see a table. You feel the mood. You sit down and you are in the mountains.

Andrea Stark’s rough-hewn table setting (Photo credit: Eric Striffler)

The designers interpreted the assignment in different ways. Ally Coulter Designs brought an unmistakable Italian fashion sensibility through Versace Home. ARTE incorporated its signature wallpaper into the experience and even brought in a playful gelato element.

The Designers: Ally Coulter is in gold (photo credit: Lisa Tamburini)

Current Home and COC Interiors created an interactive bar experience, while other designers explored everything from dining and breakfast tables to entertaining spaces that encouraged guests to linger and interact.

There were playful moments, too, including ping-pong and shuffleboard. I loved that. Because suddenly the table wasn’t just about sitting down to dinner. It was about how people actually live and entertain in the summer.

Ramona Singer, Ally Coulter, Iris Danker (Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini)

There was eating, drinking, playing, talking and gathering. That is what makes an event feel fresh.

The participating designers included Andrea Stark, Ally Coulter Designs with Versace Home, ARTE, Ciuffo Cabinetry, COC Interiors with Current Home, Collette Home, Duggan Society, Eichholtz LI by Archive V, Fiorello Designs, FZ Collection by Felicia Zwebner, Helen Bergin Interiors, Laura Michaels Design, Lozano Jolas Interiors, Maiia Vilhelmson, Phyllis Borak and Riese Design.

Maiia Vilhelmsons’s modern European table (Photo credit: Eric Striffler)

On opening night came another layer: television cameras. Cast members from E!’s “The Golden Life” had arranged to film during the gala. Through Ally Coulter’s friendship with Ramona Singer, a new connection was made with Holiday House. That was this year’s sparkle. Suddenly, an event created around design and philanthropy had the potential to reach a new audience.

Another star of “The Golden Life,” and a familiar face in the Hamptons: Luann de Lesseps (Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini)

For Iris Dankner, besides bringing celebrity excitement, it was another megaphone for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Glamour gets people through the door.  Design gives them an experience. Television cameras give the event another audience. Philanthropy gives it meaning.

Ann Liguori, a television personality, with Nancy Stone, a philanthropic power in the Hamptons and especially in Palm Beach (Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini

Fifteen percent of sales from the products, art and antiques benefits the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. So a beautiful object can become a contribution to breast cancer research.

Among the guests were Nancy Stone, Campion Platt and his family, Vivi Warnholtz, Helen Bergin, Vicente Wolf, Preston Bailey, Ramona Singer, Nancy Stone, Ann Liguori, Jean Shafiroff, Candace Bushnell, Jill Brooke, Julie Ratner and Christopher Burnside, a real estate broker at Brown Harris Stevens — one of the many representatives of the real estate world, here to kick the tires on a spec house in an equestrian enclave with an estimated sale price of $10 million.

Vicente Wolf, a design chair, with Iris Danker (Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini)

That is where excitement comes fron. You cannot repeat last year’s formula and expect people to be interested. There are too many parties, too many galas and too many beautiful settings. Especially in August. But people will remember when E! cameras came to Holiday House, whether “The Golden Life” uses the footage or not. The reality series premiers in October and recycles the cast of “The Real Housewives of New York,” Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Kelly Bensimon and Jill Zarin in a show about Palm Beach.

An Asian place setting by Phyllis Borak (Photo credit: Eric Striffler)

You need something unexpected. Something that might make people laugh, like a gelato cart parked outside. Something to make people stop and take a photo, or a selfie. Or start a conversation with a stranger.

A popular attraction: the gelator cart, especially the refreshing white chocolate and lime scoop. (Photo credit: Kristin L Gray Photography)

Even better if you hear someone say,  “I want my friends to see this.”

At Holiday House, I don’t look at the room, I look at what is happening in the room. What makes people stop. Where there is a traffic jam.

Katlean de Monchy with Iris Danker (Photo credit: Kristin L Gray Photography)

Beautiful parties are easy to create. Just hire a event designer and have a big budget.

But creating a memory — that takes more than money, and outside help. Television cameras help.