Lauren Santo Domingo Offers a Rare Look Inside Her Hamptons Home—Party Barn Included

It was in the Gilded Age salons of late 19th-century New York that Charles Lewis Tiffany established his name. Moving amid the lavish spaces and glittering company of Astors and Vanderbilts, Tiffany, a brilliant emerging entrepreneur, purveyed European gemstones, porcelain, and objets in support of the ethos “Beautiful design makes a beautiful life.”

One year ago Lauren Santo Domingo stepped into that lineage as artistic director of Tiffany Home. Cofounder and chief brand officer of online fashion retailer Moda Operandi and a tastemaker of the 21st-century beau monde, Santo Domingo is a spiritual descendent of Tiffany’s entrepreneurial high style.

Raised in Connecticut (as was Tiffany), Santo Domingo was imprinted by the house at an early age. “Growing up, in the most elegant dining rooms it was only Tiffany china. You would register for it; it would be your wedding china; it would be brought out on all the important occasions.”

Though grounded in New England style, Santo Domingo’s sensibility is forward-facing—it’s a refined opposition of classicism and nonconformity that defines her aesthetic. “In Connecticut, the standard was so high for how a woman was meant to entertain—naturally, elegantly, flawlessly—and it was very loaded,” she says.

“Being this sort of domestic goddess was not something that I found particularly aspirational. I wanted to be in New York City, where the action was, and for many years I sort of rejected this idea of entertaining.”

Her experiences in the fashion industry—Santo Domingo began her career at Vogue—would prove transformative. “I started attending fashion parties and then intimate and exquisite dinners, and I started to shift my perspective,” she says.

“I realized that setting the table, creating menus, serving dinner—all of these things—could be viewed through the lens of real creative and artistic expression. As opposed to putting forth this picture of how perfect and flawless you are, instead you’re trying to create something beautiful and exciting.”

She points to the pivotal era when powerhouse Italian designer Elsa Peretti was reinventing the home and lifestyle category at Tiffany, sparking a cultural phenomenon with her bold, sculptural jewelry and pieces for the table. A liberating departure from conventional accessorizing, Peretti’s work is among best-selling Tiffany collections by women designers from Paloma Picasso to Francesca Amfitheatrof.

For her debut Santo Domingo chose to turn her eye to the table, bridging new motifs and archival patterns. “I feel like there has been a renaissance in tablescape,” she says.

“People are just having fun with it with none of those preconceived notions.” One design, Crest, is the first Tiffany coat of arms and captures the frisson between tradition and reinvention.

“I’m a passionate collector of armorial china from the 17th to 19th centuries,” says Santo Domingo (who holds a degree in history). “No matter where I go, I ask where the outdoor flea market is—I’m always picking these things up, but I’ve never had a complete set. So the idea of creating a full matching set really appealed to me.”

Crest features silversmithing tools symbolizing the house’s metalworking savoir faire and the iconic Bird on a Rock motif by legendary jeweler Jean Schlumberger. “I’m already using it at home, and it’s perfectly suited for a classic formal dinner,” she notes.

The initial launch under her direction also includes Tiffany Berries, Tiffany Wisteria, Tiffany Toile, Tiffany T True, and, she notes, the setting Valse Bleue.

“Blue and white with hints of gold, it’s formal bone china, but I actually use it outdoors with a beautiful Irish appliqué and lace tablecloth,” she says. “The cups and saucers are my go-to with a white lunch napkin and gleaming silverware. It’s so simple it’s foolproof and beyond elegant.”

As a child, Santo Domingo often traveled to France and, as an adult, lived in Paris. With Tiffany now under French ownership, she has come full circle.

“Having grown up with the brand, seeing its reinvention in the last few years under Alexandre Arnault [executive VP of products and communication and son of Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of French luxury house LVMH, which acquired Tiffany in 2021], I found it incredibly inspiring to watch how this heritage brand was reaching a new customer and embracing modernity,” says Santo Domingo. We can imagine Charles Lewis Tiffany feeling much the same.

Mudroom

Paved with antique French stone flooring, the mudroom becomes a staging area for a bounty of florals. Large painting, Pieter Neefs

Living Room

The living room’s wooden parsons coffee table and daybed are custom. René Magritte’s The Legend of the Centuries hangs above a fluted wood column.

Library

The white oak–paneled library is an inviting end-of-evening conversation area.

Bar

An octagonal rippled-edge Soane Britain table double as the barn’s bar; keeping watch from above is Andy Warhol’s Portrait of R.C. Gorman. The abstract glassware echoes the barn's colorful and contemporary artwork.

Featured in our March/April 2024 issue. Interior Design by Virginia Tupker Architecture by Gil Schafer III; Photography by Noe DeWitt; Produced by Racheal Burrow; Florals by Missi Flowers; Written by Alisa Carroll.

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