Written by Alyson Krueger
Grace Palumbo, a kindergarten teacher in Denver, has one goal right now: to get access to a beach house.
“A Hamptons house is one of the things I am manifesting, but I’m not picky,” Palumbo, 26, said. “It can be Cape Cod, Long Beach Island, Jersey Shore.” Neither she nor her family owns this type of real estate, so she is actively seeking a solution.
When she scrolls through men on dating apps, mostly Hinge, she searches for signs of summer homes.
“Like, if they have a beach in the background or their hometown is the Hamptons or Long Island, that is something I take note of,” she said, laughing. “I also half-jokingly ask them where they are summering.”
She believes in putting her desires into the universe (and in newspapers).
“I’m writing in my journal every day that I want a beach house, and I’m also telling as many people as possible,” she said. “This is how things happen.”
She’s making progress: “I haven’t found anyone with Hampton houses yet, but I have found people with houses in other parts of Long Island.”
Memorial Day is upon us, and with this unofficial start of summer comes a scramble — for those who have the privilege of not just taking vacations but being in proximity to people who have properties devoted to them — to score invitations to summer homes. Why pay for an expensive hotel or rental property, which can go for over $1,000 a night in desirable locations like Montauk and Nantucket, when you have a friend who can host you — maybe more than once, if you play your cards right?
“As a kindergarten teacher, I am not in a position where I can afford a beach house, so finding friends or boyfriends with those kinds of perks always makes it more fun,” Palumbo said. (She added that it was not the sole qualification for a boyfriend candidate; she must, she said, actually like the guy.)
The topic has, not surprisingly, come up on TikTok. At the beginning of May, Ella Kahan, who works in social media for Saks Fifth Avenue, posted a video of beautiful Hamptons scenes with the caption “A gentle reminder to start being nice to your friends with hampton houses.”
Kahan, who grew up in Manhattan, has often had access to Hamptons houses. But she sees friends, especially those new to the city, hustle for invites this time of year.
“It’s a scramble to find one,” she said. “Everyone wants to be by a pool.”
Kahan, 26, posted her TikTok video as a joke, but the responses were serious.
“People were like, ‘How do I find these friends?’ or ‘How do you do it?’” she said. She takes an honest approach: “You have to find some sort of connection, like a friend of a friend.”
The thinly veiled casual hellos might feel suspicious to the lucky owners of a summer house (or people with primary homes in summer-positive locales).
“When I post pictures of my Hamptons house, now I get 10 to 12 different people messaging me to be like, ‘Oh, my God, let’s catch up’ or ‘I need to see you this summer. When can we get together?’” said a fashion entrepreneur who has a seven-bedroom house in Sag Harbor.
The entrepreneur, 39, who requested that her name not be published for fear of offending the people of whom she spoke, has had her Hamptons house for three years, and said the messages were becoming an annual occurrence.
“I can just tell when people I haven’t heard from in six months are texting me all the time right before Memorial Day weekend,” she said.
She has had more people reach out this year than ever, and she thinks looming recession fears are a factor.
“People aren’t spending as much money on travel,” she said. Indeed, the Hamptons currently has double the number of homes available to rent than it did last year, as prospective tenants cut back. According to the U.S. Travel Association, an industry group, hotel room demand is below March 2019 levels for the first time in months (even if AAA is estimating an 11% increase in air travel over the Memorial Day weekend compared with last year’s also hectic summer. Perhaps those travelers are flying to stay in friends’ or family members’ homes).
Some people with summer homes are finding ways to avoid playing host altogether.
In July 2020, Lindsay Tyrpien, 33, creative director of an art gallery in Manhattan, bought a 1920s farmhouse in Livingston Manor, New York, a picturesque town about two hours upstate. She and her wife, Magdalena Tyrpien, 34, a biotech executive, did a gut renovation of the 1,200-square-foot space and decided to knock out the second bedroom altogether; instead, they have one very large bedroom and office space. (The couple also rents out the home.)
“We are both so busy in our professional lives that we cherish being able to spend that time together,” Lindsay Tyrpien said. “It’s just nice to go up there and be by ourselves and not even have the option to host.”
📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!
With the unofficial start of summer comes, for some, a scramble to secure a free getaway somewhere. (Marine Buffard/The New York Times) 
Share
