After dwelling and working in the Philippines and Hong Kong, lifestyle writer and entrepreneur Blue Carreon sought to move away from the frenetic pace of city life. He takes us on a tour of his cosy East Hampton abode
"I found my footing in Philippine Tatler,” says Blue Carreon when asked about the beginnings of his creative journey. “It was my first full-time job post-graduation; prior to that, I was contributing work on a freelance basis to various publications. When I came in as a staff writer, the magazine was still in its earliest stages. We were a small staff well-versed in multi-tasking and thinking on our feet. Necessity, after all, is the mother of invention—and boy, did we have to do a lot of inventing!”
Carreon rose through the ranks to become the publication’s features and style editor, eventually ending up at Asia Tatler’s head office (“They got wind of me leaving and extended a job offer so I could stay in the group.”) as style editor for Hong Kong Tatler. He later left Asia Tatler to serve as editor for other publications and to pursue other passions including writing his own book (Conversations: Up Close and Personal with Icons of Fashion, Interior Design, and Art, published in 2014) and launching his home décor and furnishings line, Blue Carreon Home.
“My partner [Bruce Bromberg] and I had lived in Hong Kong for a decade and in Singapore for about two years,” Carreon shares. “Initially, we planned to settle down in Manila—Bruce had just retired, and I opened a store there. Then he changed his mind and got a job in New York, where he is from originally. We kept a small apartment in the city, but I found myself wanting more space, a garden, and easy access to a tennis court.” Their thoughts turned to the Hamptons, an area they loved to visit due to the beaches and the laid-back lifestyle. After looking from property to property, they decided on a home that was still under construction when they saw it for the very first time. As an advocate of home design, Carreon was eager to get to work in realising his vision of a dream home, stating, “I love staying at home and being surrounded by beautiful things, so it was important to me to have a nice one done according to my and my partner’s tastes.”