This was not Vince and Louise Camuto’s first rodeo. Upon winning the bidding war in 2005 for Villa Maria (named by the Roman Catholic nuns who once operated it as a convent), the couple already owned other great estates in the Northeast.
The couple’s Greenwich, Connecticut, home — a museum-like castle with a hall of mirrors and Versailles-inspired music room — earned a feature in Harpers Bazaar.
However, despite the Camutos’ experience with historic homes, not to mention their fortune from several entrepreneurial endeavors (including the Nine West brand that the late Mr. Camuto founded), dealing with the villa’s water damage and rot was no small undertaking.
During the six-year renovation, Mrs. Camuto, who has a background in interior design, worked alongside Andre Tchelistcheff Architects to take the estate back to the era in which it was built. It was 1919 when shipping magnate Edward P. Morse erected the home, so plans for 1920s grandeur with 21st-century conveniences were drawn up.
A loggia to the carriage house was added, as well as a pool, a pool house, and new landscaping. Today, the 11-bedroom, 22,000-square-foot home looks impeccable. Its views over Mecox Bay and the privacy of the surrounding 15-acre lot make Villa Maria a true standout in the Hamptons, and worthy of Architectural Digest’s pages upon the estate’s completion in 2013.
The home is currently listed with Sotheby’s International Realty for $85 million. (Inquiries: Harald Grant, 631-227-4913)