Кейт Кёррик показала отреставрированный дом в Хэмптоне, ставший её главным убежищем

Katie Couric has owned her home in East Hampton for 20 years. It’s where she’s watched her two daughters, Ellie and Carrie, grow up, where she’s celebrated, mourned, and even occasionally relaxed, and where she’s welcomed in a new era of her personal life and career. She recently renovated the property, with the help of interior designer Saffron Case, to suit these evolving needs: a growing family, business, and a lifetime of collecting. Today, it’s where she records podcasts and interviews senators, scientists, and celebrities for her popular Instagram account and newsletter. It’s also where she hosts her daughters and grandchildren throughout summer, cooks dinner for her husband and friends, and plays fiercely competitive games of pickleball on her home court. Here, she tells ELLE Decor about the renovation and shares what makes this Hamptons haven the place where she’s the happiest. “A house is like a relationship—you feel chemistry when you walk in, and I felt instant chemistry with this house. I bought it in 2006. When I stepped inside, it just felt very sturdy and comfortable. I immediately said, ‘I love this house.’ Aside from my apartment, this is the third house I’ve owned. My late husband, Jay Monahan, and I had a house in Millbrook, New York, that we bought after we moved to New York City. It was Greek Revival, built around 1860, and we lovingly restored it. But after he died in 1998, it was really hard for me to go there. I kept the house for a while, but it never felt right. My daughters, Ellie and Carrie, were 14 and 10 when we got this place—they grew up here. My second husband, John Molner, and I got married in the backyard. Last year, at the urging of my older daughter, I decided to bite the bullet and redo the house. When we first moved in, I had painted and done a few cosmetic things, but this time around I got to really think about what I wanted to change. Ellie was very involved. I also worked with a designer, Saffron Case, who is fantastic. The process was surprisingly smooth—I think I’m the only person in America who actually loves my contractor. We opened up the kitchen to the dining room and family room—that is probably the most dramatic change. I added a glass door in the living room, so it has a much more expansive view. We raised and widened the doorways, which made every room feel so much more open and spacious. I did have to go through all my furniture and things and make some difficult choices. I just didn’t have space for everything. I still have a lot of stuff that I should probably part ways with, but I’m extremely sentimental and if something was in my parents’ dining room, it just crushed me not to have it. I love having reminders of my family and our past throughout the house. It gives me a wonderful sense of continuity. I have my mother’s needlepoint and my childhood piano here; I have antiques from Millbrook that Jay and I bought; I have keepsakes from all the different phases of my career; and there are things John and I have bought together. The house has become a gathering place for my family. Ellie and her husband and my two grandchildren spent a huge chunk of time here this summer, and Carrie, who’s in graduate school, came. I set up a desk for her with a view of the garden. I’ve hosted family reunions with my siblings and their children. We had my dad’s 90th birthday here; he passed away later that year, and it was such a meaningful occasion. I’ve really tried to create a home for the ages. I want my daughters to enjoy this house when I’m not around—hopefully not anytime soon, but down the road.” The Office “I have a major brag wall. Obnoxious, isn’t it? But seriously—I wasn’t sure what to do with all of these things, and they are little pieces of history. I have a telegram from Oprah Winfrey that says ‘I saw the live interview this morning at the White House with President Bush. Bravo, Oprah! P.S. And your suit looked good too,’ which was so nice. From lunch at the White House when Barack Obama was president—I think I was the only woman there—I have the menu and my place card and decided to frame it. There’s a photo of me with Bill Clinton when he was president; I’m looking a bit skeptical. He signed it and sent it to me, and right next to it is a note from Hillary, a person I admire deeply. She wrote, ‘To Katie with admiration, affection, and friendship.’ It’s from when she hosted an event about colorectal cancer at the White House after I lost my husband Jay. It was probably 1999, about a year after he died, and it was so thoughtful of her to gather all these experts together. My Emmys are in here as well. I have quite a few, but don’t get too excited—a number of them are for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.” The Kitchen “When I decided to open up the kitchen to the dining room and family room, I remember my sister saying ‘What if you're entertaining? Do you really want people to watch you washing the dishes?’ And I realized I really don’t care. In the summer we eat outside on the porch and in the winter we eat at the big table or here, at the banquette if it’s just a few of us. In my garden I grow tomatoes and herbs and beans and squash and eggplant. And I love going to the farm stand and grilling outside and using all the fresh produce.” A Few of My Favorite Things “This dresser belonged to Jackie Kennedy. I bought it at the Sotheby’s auction of her estate, along with a watercolor that’s hanging upstairs in Ellie’s room. I keep my parents’ collection of ashtrays on top. They bought one almost everywhere they traveled to, and I’ve added a few of my own over the years. For one birthday, Jay gave me this 19th century ornithologist’s cabinet, which has all these eggs in it with their original labels. It’s important to me to have things from my life with Jay in this house. We bought so many things together for our house in Millbrook and he had beautiful taste. He used to joke that he wanted to start a column called Mantiques and write about the stuff he bought. He collected a lot of military memorabilia and was very interested in the Civil War. I have his collection of Civil War-era bugles and a letterbox that belonged to Joshua Chamberlain, a Union Army hero, from when he was president of Bowdoin.” The Garden “I love to get up in the morning and walk around the yard and look at the flowers, when they just have a little dew on them and they’re very fresh. I like to cut them and make arrangements—I love just a single bloom in a bud vase. You get to really look at that flower and appreciate it. It gives me so much pleasure to see the garden change seasonally. The peonies are incredible early in the summer, and then out come the hydrangeas. I have blue ones and some that are pink and almost lavender, and of course white. I love when the white cone hydrangeas get that rusty hue, but it always makes me sad because that means it’s the end of summer, and summer is definitely my favorite season.” The Back Yard “My garden may be my favorite thing about this place. My older sister, Clara, is a landscape architect, and she designed the property. She’s based in Boston but works very closely with Andrea Mason, who lives here and helps me. I just love all the colors and all the different shapes. This is clearly my happy place. In addition to the pool, there’s a tennis court, which I converted into two pickleball courts. I’m kind of hooked, and I’ve made a whole new set of friends out here who are pickleballers. Now they’re trying to get me to play mahjong, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know about that.’ When we host family reunions, between the pool and the pickleball courts and the beach not too far away, I don’t have to entertain anyone.” Elizabeth Angell is a journalist and editor who writes about style, travel, parenting, and the British Royal Family. She has written for The New York Times and Town & Country and was most recently the Editor in Chief of Romper. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.