How the Other Half Hamptons - Jasmin Rosemberg
Life in a Summer Share House from New York Post Hamptons Columnist
It begins with a Hamptons meet and greet party. After receiving scores of e-mails, potential share holders meet up at a New York City bar to meet with the house manager and each other, and consider their options.
They look over the other potential candidates (generally twenty somethings who live and work in the immediate vicinity, some of whom even live in the same building), consider the house manager, and – if they are amenable to the situation – put down about $2,000 to purchase their “share” of the house. With it, they get to sleep on alternating weekends in a single bed in a bedroom shared with five others in a grand Hamptons house.
A Culture Shock
When twenty something friends Rachel, Jamie and Allison arrive at 1088 Montauk Highway, they imagine sun filled days, lazy sunbathing and classy clambakes, and nights spent at glamorous hot spots where they rub elbows with other celebrities staying at the Hamptons. But on their first weekend -- Memorial Day weekend – they soon learn that a Hamptons share is not all celebrities and glamour. What looks like any other million-dollar mansion on the outside turns out to be the setting for drunken hookups, nudity, hot tub escapades, hangovers, and high school level mischief.
Becoming Acclimated
The three best friends soon learn that there’s no use fighting it, and that the best thing to do at a share house is to simply be a part of it. Allison assesses her house mates by placing them into categorizing them, such as the The Mutes (who stay on the outside of the group, not saying a word), The Marathon Puker (no explanation needed) and The Hot Tub Christener (the person who is constantly suggesting hitting the hot tub).
Jamie, the wild one of the bunch, is the only one to have broken the cardinal rule of any Hamptons meet and greet party – to hook up with the hottest guy in the group, Jeff. She believes rules are made to be broken, and spends the summer doing just that.
Allison, newly single, is shy and eager to please. After discovering that her recent ex has also bought a share in the same house, she briefly gets back together with him before breaking up again, and spending the summer wondering if she can find love in a share house.
Rachel, the good girl, constantly finds herself in her sister’s shadow. Her sister Dana had done the same house previously, and seemed to have left a mark on everyone Rachel meets in the Hamptons. Dana met her fiancé at the share house, and spent the summer falling in love. Rachel finds herself wondering if it’s possible to find true love herself in the Hamptons, or elsewhere for that matter.
About the Author
As a New York Post "Hamptons" columnist, Jasmin Rosemberg chronicled her own experience as a shareholder in a 16-week series, and also covered Hamptons night life for the Post. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in economics and a minor in math.
Rosemberg, Jasmin
How the Other Half Hamptons
New York, 5 Spot, June 25, 2008
