Mary Ann Tighe managed the design of her new ground-up estate in Southampton like the boss she is.
As CBRE’s tri-state CEO, Tighe made her name in the world of New York City real estate brokering deals to the tune of deals worth millions, so it’s not surprising she used a similar approach to building her new 4-acre country mansion, as Architectural Digest reports.
First, she gave her hand-picked team of architects and designers a trial run, asking them to complete a two-bedroom guesthouse on the property before she agreed to move forward with them on the main house. Tighe wanted to see if they could work together and follow her detailed directions, as she explained to AD. Architect Michael Dwyer, decorator Bunny Williams, landscape architect Quincy Hammond and builder Frank Cafone made her list of collaborators and, as a trained art historian, Tighe gave them their marching orders.
From precise shades of paint to the shape of a staircase to references to historic architects whose work she admired like David Adler, known for his Chicago mansion in the 1920s and 30s, Tighe was specific about what she wanted.
“Mary Ann was the orchestrator and we were the players who produced the symphony,” Williams told AD about the project. [AD]—Erin Hudson