Photography provided by Onna House
To see East Hampton’s Onna House in full summer bloom, you would never know the iconic 1960s glass house was once in danger of being torn down — but it was. And the unlikely story behind its resurrection is one of passion, serendipity and a heaping dose of déjà vu.
“In January 2021, I discovered the house on Instagram, and in a video, the broker asked: ‘Can someone please save this house?’” Onna House founder Lisa Perry recalls. “That caught my attention. The minute I saw it, I got emotional. I jumped right in to purchase it — and Onna House was born!”
Art collector and perennial Hamptons host Ethel Scull steps over the diving board at the pool party in her backyard. The iconic Long Island, New York, house was a regular gathering place for activists and art world notables.
Opened in 2022, this Japanese-inspired gem is open to visitor tours by appointment only. Filled with unique art pieces, furniture and objects, the East Hampton home is rooted in its mission to champion women artists and designers. Visitors are invited to linger a bit in the airy sitting room, which is bathed in that warm Hamptons light. Outside, a mod swimming pool captures the sixties zeitgeist, while on the lawn, a metal sculpture depicts a colossal strand of fifties-era pearls. And now, there is even more to explore at Onna House Soho in Manhattan. Launched last fall, the gallery is the chic sister property in the city.
You might say Perry, who is a designer and art collector, was destined to create these spaces. She recalls having a visceral reaction when first seeing the East Hampton residence — a midcentury time capsule that felt deeply familiar. “We lived in a home with Saarinen, Eames and Jacobsen furniture and bright yellow and orange shag carpeting,” she says. “When I was in high school, we moved to a modernist home in a beautiful, wooded suburb outside of Chicago. The resemblance is uncanny and makes me very happy.”
Photography provided by Onna House
While researching the home, Perry discovered another coincidence: the original owners were none other than Robert and Ethel Scull, renowned pop art collectors, much like Perry herself. “The Sculls built the house in 1962 as a summer escape,” she says. “I particularly liked the fact that Ethel Scull hosted an event with Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, who stood on the deck outside rallying the crowd at one of the first women’s liberation movement gatherings.”
Andy Warhol was a visitor as well. It was here that Robert Scull famously asked the artist to paint a portrait of his wife, Ethel, as a gift for her 42nd birthday. The iconic work, “Ethel Scull 36 Times,” was completed in 1963 and is now jointly owned by the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The piece was Warhol’s first commission, paving the way for hundreds of celebrity portraits to follow.
Betty Friedan, writer and cofounder of the National Organization for Women, rallies the crowd at the Sculls’ iconic midcentury residence.
These historic details resonate with Perry, who has had a lifelong love affair with art and design. Inspired by 1960s clothing, in 2007, she started her own fashion and lifestyle brand, lisa perry, eventually creating limited-edition collections in collaboration with artists and foundations like Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Indiana. Her passion for home and interior design was highlighted in a self-titled book published by Assouline in 2019. And she has been a lifelong advocate for women’s organizations. All of these passions shaped the Onna House mission.
And now with Onna House Soho, the story continues. Tucked away in a private loft, the gallery is open only by appointment. Here, Perry and her team exhibit the work of female artists, with a special emphasis on craft like ceramics and textiles. Then to capture the Japanese spirit of the East Hampton house, a tearoom enclosed by traditional shoji screens has been set up inside the light-filled lounge.
Photography provided by Onna House
“It’s a place where people can pop up for a cup of tea and a respite in the middle of a hectic New York City day,” Perry explains. “When people walk into both Onna House locations, they say they feel something special, and we smile, because we know what they are feeling. It is the hands and hearts of the women in all the work that surrounds them.”
