When Southforker caught up with long time East End resident and dual-farm-owner Lori MacGarva, it was the Monday after the weekend nor’easter and she had spent the past two days dealing with the storm, which she notes came early and harsh in the season, washing away the dunes.
“It’s terrible living like this with the weather. But if we choose to live near the water, this is what you have to deal with,” she says.
As challenging as they are, the unpredictable and ever-changing local climate conditions —which are likely here to stay— are not enough to dissuade MacGarva. Her parents came out to the Hamptons in the 1960s, she has been in residence since the mid-1980s, her children are fourth-generation East Enders, and her extended family in the area numbers more than 80. She has roots in the ground —a family horse farm in East Hampton and an expansion into aromatherapy at an Eastport location.
MacGarva’s interests and jobs are many: a former professional dancer, she taught fitness classes, opening her own studio. In addition to the horse farm, she has created and grown Hamptons Aromatherapy, a line of botanical products that includes a related kelp-based skincare line called Sea to Skin. She has a long-time involvement with local historic preservation, working with the Southampton and East Hampton Community Preservation Fund to advocate for preservation and responsible development, and spearheaded initiatives to give back and preserve lands for public use. With more than two decades of experience as a real estate agent — currently with William Raveis Elite Concierge Services — she has seen all sides of housing and development and leverages her experience to stay abreast and involved with local preservation issues.
Southforker: What are some of the significant preservation projects you’ve worked on?
Lori MacGarva: There was once a restaurant on Georgica Pond — it had many names over the years and it had a lot of septic issues. Nobody was going to fix a septic system that old and it was a hazard to the area. I worked with a donor who lives on the pond to fund a project with the Peconic Land Trust to remove the restaurant. Now it’s a park where you walk the path and be right on the pond. Another was a site on Mill Creek Pond where four houses on the water were in disrepair. There’s a great story behind who settled that area, but the houses were not significant historical homes and were just kind of falling apart. The family thought it would be great to preserve the site and become a park for the community and I helped broker the deal between the owners and the community preservation fund. So right now, the four houses have been taken off the water, and the town of Southampton is going to create a little park area where you can park and sit on Mill Creek, and I think that’s an incredible entrance to Water Mill.
I love to get up very early in the morning and walk around the village, whether it’s East Hampton, Sag Harbor or Montauk, I think those are the beautiful moments.
Lori MacGarva
SF: What are some of the changes you’ve seen in your time on the East End and what’s driving those?
LG: Development is pushing further west. So people are going from Westhampton to Quogue and now Eastport’s becoming buzzy. I think the biggest push is the travel time. It takes four hours to get to Montauk or to Amagansett [from Manhattan], and it takes an hour and a half to get to Eastport and other beautiful communities on the water. I think it has a lot to do with price and time, definitely.
SF: So, let’s talk aromatherapy! How did you start that and how is the business going?
LG: It came out of having the farm in East Hampton, an orchard, and an area with a beautiful garden. It started from growing mint and roses and having lavender in little amounts and making gifts, and then going to farmer’s markets. Now Hamptons Alchemist is the plant product side and Sea to Skin is the kelp skin care. We harvest seaweed from kelp growers in Moriches Bay. I have a lot of women working with me who make the packages and products — moms like me who grew up together and couldn’t work full time because they were raising their kids. We started doing this kind of co-op business together, and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s still a very small thing, but I rely on the women who work with me; they’re the ones who really want to see it move. With the Eastport location, I can really develop the company. It is the future if this really does grow.
SF: You have a lot of careers — ever think about slowing down?
LG: Real estate is my career and the thing that enables me to do everything else. I’ve known Judi Desiderio [founder and owner of the former Town & Country Estate and now at Raveis] since our college days and I just really fell for their ideas and everything about them, plus they’re horse people … it just felt like something here was meant to be. It’s like working for a family company not a corporation.
SF: What about your spare time? Do you have any and what do you like doing?
LG: I love to get up very early in the morning and walk around the village, whether it’s East Hampton, Sag Harbor or Montauk, I think those are the beautiful moments. The first place I like to spend time is on the farms — they are peaceful and there’s calm, whether it’s with the horses or in Eastport on the water. They’re both different places, and I could spend every day there.
