Have we reached peak Hamptons in Australian home design?

Australia has hit peak Hamptons after a 10-year love affair with the house design style, with new home builders moving on to explore other trends like Palm Springs, French provincial and mid-century modern.

Although the classic white-washed beachy American Hamptons style suits the Australian climate and has enjoyed huge popularity, the COVID-19 pandemic has left some buyers wanting something different.

“I think the pandemic has led to a lot of people wanting more space in their homes, and many are moving out to the outer urban suburbs or regional areas where they can have bigger houses,” said Nerida Conisbee, chief economist of the Ray White Group.

“Then the Palm Springs style – of single-storey flat houses with bigger open-plan spaces – suits them much more. We’ve seen Google searches for that style of homes increase and even briefly surpass those for Hamptons homes at the start of this year and maybe people, because they can’t travel, are more attracted to Palm Springs’ palms than Hamptons’ hedges.”

The hit TV show The White Lotus, set in an exclusive tropical resort in Hawaii, is also thought to have whetted appetites for the rich-and-famous Palm Springs look, with its crisp white palette and full glass walls, decorated with floral or palm leaf-patterned furnishings.

At custom home-builders Allura Homes, director Andrew Strachan believes that all our time spent working from home during the pandemic has left us aching for a clearer distinction between our work and home lives. We’re therefore choosing a style that could make us instantly relax as soon as we move from the work area into the rest of the house.

“Palm Springs gives you that resort feel,” he said. “It’s not too far away from Hamptons style, but it means you don’t have to spend as much money on details around the house, like the joinery and around the walls.

“It does feel very relaxing, and you can have some fun with the furnishings. I think people also now want something a bit different to stand out at a time when it seems every third house looks like it’s come from a Hamptons brochure. Some clients are saying they’re building a custom house, so they don’t want it to look like everyone else’s.”

The Hamptons style was originally inspired by the grand holiday homes of Long Island, with interiors that are bright and airy, usually with wainscotting detail around the walls, a shaker-style kitchen with cabinets and doors with recessed panels, and joinery that steps in with a routed edge. It was a star of the US TV drama Revenge.

Palm Springs has elements of that Hamptons style but tends to have cleaner lines and less fussy finishes, with a playful touch of kitsch here and there.

Both are also facing competition, however, from a surge of popularity in French provincial – a more polished, elegant version of Hamptons – and modern contemporary, where straight lines can make a home look larger.

But the Hamptons’ battle to stay on top of home-builders’ wish lists is still far from lost. Volume home-builder Simonds Group says the demand is simply splitting off into different sub-layers – like coastal Hamptons, modern Hamptons and rustic Hamptons.

“We’re just doing some research into whether Hamptons has had its moment in the sun,” said Simonds’ national marketing manager, Regan Bembridge. “But people seem now to be coming back to it in a different form.

“I think they’ll always like it as it’s clean, bright and modern, whereas we’re seeing Palm Springs come up much more in interior design.”

Home-builders ANSA Homes have also been checking on their customers’ tastes to see if they’re over Hamptons, and have also discovered instead that they’re dividing off into the different types of Hamptons.

“That means you can give it a bit of a different twist but still keep it fresh,” said Lisa Pont, new homes colours manager. “I think people just really want to feel relaxed in their homes as a result of COVID, and both Hamptons and Palm Springs do make you feel calm and unstressed.

“Both have some similar design features, but I think there’s still some longevity left in the Hamptons yet.”