Step Inside David Rogal’s East Hampton Home

Often times, designing a house with a spouse can be a study in opposites. One likes muddy moss green, the other a spirited Barbie pink. One wants to be enveloped in an echo chamber of ikat and the other would rather get lost in a peaceful maze of anonymous beige. When interior designer David Rogal and his husband Ron Carlivati bought their beach house in East Hampton, NY eight years ago they suspected that might be the case. David, an interior designer who trained under Vincente Wolf, gravitates toward quiet, monochromatic color schemes and sculptural furnishing that give a nod to nature. Ron, by contrast, is an Emmy-winning television writer who is drawn to exuberant jolts of color (yellow and orange topping out as favorites) and who, given his life-long obsession with the movie Jaws, has a penchant for a dash or two of kitsch. Surprisingly, there were no arguments, gripes or groans. There was, however, a lot of loving compromise which resulted in a charming beach house that perfectly captures each man’s unique personality and design proclivities.

The couple bought the property with two cottages – one guest house and one main house. After consulting several contractors, one told the men that he could build them a better main house for less money if they agreed to tear the old house down to the ground. So tear it down they did. While the original footprint is still the same, the new main house has every modern convenience that most Hamptons cottages lack – central heating and cooling, updated electrical and plumbing, a brand new kitchen, new baths, new windows and an interior layout and flow that matches the couples lifestyle.

In terms of interior decoration, Rogal managed to artfully blend their styles so that Ron felt his personality was reflected and David also felt comfortable in his own home. One design decision that resulted in a theme for the home was the color of the front door. Ron wanted a cheery, yellow front door. David wanted a chic, black one. David acquiesced and it turned out to be one of the best design decisions the couple made. Shocks of yellow turn up throughout the main cottage and the guest house in such subtle ways that visitors notice only after spending a full day buzzing in and out of both structures. The sharks are a little more obvious. Ron has had a life-long obsession with the 1975 Steven Spielberg blockbuster movie, Jaws. This life-long passion has led Ron to amass a collection of Jaws memorabilia, merchandise, and anything shark-related. David, being less a Jaws aficionado, lovingly sprinkles these figurines and oddities throughout the house in a chic and sophisticated way as only an interior designer could. The couple’s passion for art is really where their aesthetics converge. The house is chock full of colorful art – some serious and some more playful but their shared interest in collecting and displaying is evident throughout. And while the couple is quite content with their ever-evolving beach cottage that they keep filling with mid-century finds and various art, there might come a time when they look at each other and say” We’re gonna need a bigger house.”