Designer Brianna Untener reimagines a Bridgehampton family retreat
Interior designer Brianna Untener has built her reputation on spaces that feel both elevated and deeply livable. Her work is rooted in an aesthetic she describes as “soft contemporary”—a palette of tactile materials, gentle forms and thoughtful details that feel personal rather than prescriptive.
As the founder of Brianna Scott Interiors, one of Untener’s latest projects was the full transformation of a Bridgehampton summer home. Coined the “Modern Homestead,” it’s cozy without clichés, contemporary without sterile minimalism, and carefully tailored to the family who calls it their refuge.
From Dollhouses to Design Studios
Raised in Stony Point, a Rockland County suburb of New York City, Untener knew early on where her creativity was taking her. “Design is something that I loved as a child,” she says of the days she spent arranging dollhouses and drawing plans for fun. “From this young age, I dreamed of being a renowned interior designer working on the coolest homes across the country.”
To bring that dream to life, Untener studied Interior Architecture at Marywood University in Scranton, P.A., where she graduated top of her class. A post-grad stint at a commercial architecture firm in New York honed her technical skill set, while freelance residential jobs broadened her experience working one-on-one with private clients.
In 2021, she launched Brianna Scott Interiors, a New York and Connecticut based firm known for its rich textures, thoughtful layering and emphasis on livability. She selects a few projects each year and offers one-on-one attention to each client. “My aesthetic is fluid and can adapt to different clients and their unique style,” she says. “I never want to be pigeonholed into a certain type of project or ‘look.’”
Memories to Protect
Untener’s Bridgehampton clients had owned their home for a decade and found themselves unsure whether to renovate or move on. “They debated back and forth about looking for a new home or keeping this one,” Untener explains. But in the end, “they had so many memories here, so they knew they had to stay and give it a new life.”
What began as a partial update evolved quickly. The clients soon realized that if they were going to freshen a few spaces, the rest of the house needed to rise to the same standard. By July of 2024 — after a January start — the entire 8,000-square-foot shingle-style farmhouse had been reinterpreted. The refreshed identity needed a name, but “farmhouse” no longer fit. “Modern Homestead” captured the home’s rustic bones, reimagined through a contemporary lens.
“I think the word ‘farmhouse’ is a little overused and makes you think of one specific look,” Untener says. “This has elements of a farmhouse-style home, but it feels and looks richer in tone and texture.”
Ready for Real Life
The homeowners emphasized two guiding words: cozy and rich. “They wanted this home to feel like an oasis they could spend their summers in away from the city, but it also needed to be durable to keep up with kids, dogs, and entertaining,” she says. “Every fiber and textile was selected to keep up with this lifestyle.”
That balance of beauty and resilience carries throughout the house, where hardy performance fabrics sit comfortably beside stone, plaster, warm wood and vintage accents.
An 8,000-Square-Foot Vision
To keep the many rooms in the 8,000-square-foot manse from feeling disconnected, Untener employed an approach that emphasized both identity and continuity.“Each room has its own individuality,” she explains, “but the individual spaces have design elements that tie it back to the greater design direction, creating that cohesive feel throughout.” Wood tones echo between rooms, plaster finishes repeat with subtle variation and a mix of vintage furniture unifies old and new, she says.
Inspired by the home’s original industrial beams, Untener opted to heighten the drama rather than fight it. The result is her favorite moment in the house: a towering fluted fireplace in the great room. The clients expressed an affinity for travertine, but cost constraints led to a hybrid solution.
“We decided that the hearth and surround were made of travertine and the rest of the mass is a fluted wood material,” Untener says. The effect, she adds, is monumental and striking, and nearly indistinguishable from carved stone.
The kitchen was not in the original scope, but mid-renovation, Untener realized its previous updates clashed with the new palette. “The kitchen was a big obstacle since we had to adjust it on the fly without any demo,” she recalls. Without replacing cabinetry, tile, or appliances, she plastered over the full-height tiled wall and added a new plaster hood and oak cladding on the island.
In the children’s spaces, Untener aimed for expressive over juvenile. A teen bedroom features a bouclé bed and a hand-painted water-inspired mural by Faux Finesse, while a pine-clad playroom doubles as a DJ booth.
A Home Rediscovered
Today, the Modern Homestead feels like an oasis. It’s inviting, layered and restful, Untener says. When the project was revealed, the family could hardly connect their memories to their surroundings, she adds. “They were almost in shock,” Untener recalls. “It was drastically different, but everything they were wanting.”
