Last updated: August 22, 2026 · 8-minute read
The clients call it the morning bathroom. They use it the way some people use a meditation cushion — first thing, every day, the room where the day begins. When they hired their interior designer in spring 2024, they had one brief: "We want a bathroom that feels like the best spa we've ever stayed in. The Mercer in New York. Soho House Amagansett. Translate that feeling into a permanent room."
This article documents the resulting project. A Sagaponack, NY primary bathroom completed in May 2026. Three different travertines, custom-sourced linens, brushed brass, and one unusual sourcing decision that defined the entire room. Photos in our Projects gallery.
The brief and the constraints
The clients — a couple in their mid-50s, one a hedge fund partner, the other a former editorial director — own a 6,400-square-foot Shingle-style home in Sagaponack, completed in 2008. The primary bathroom they wanted to renovate is the original 2008 installation: marble counters, polished chrome fixtures, white subway tile shower. Functional, dated, cold.
Three project constraints:
- Existing footprint of the room could not change (load-bearing walls, neighboring closet, the location of the home's primary plumbing stack)
- Existing 7-foot picture window facing the ocean had to stay (the room's defining feature)
- Project had to be complete before Memorial Day 2026 (the family's annual summer arrival)
Total budget: approximately $145,000 including all labor, stone, fixtures, and finishes.
The designer's first move: three travertines, not one
The designer of record — a Manhattan-based studio she'd worked with before — made the call early that defined the room: instead of one travertine throughout, use three different travertine varieties in different applications. Beige Muğla Marble (technically a marble, but reading similarly to travertine in this palette) for vanity tops. Walnut Travertine for the floor. Roman Travertine for the shower walls.
The reasoning: a single travertine across the entire room would have read flat. Three closely-related varieties, each with slightly different undertone and texture, layered light and warmth in different ways without breaking visual coherence. The clients saw all three together in their actual ocean-light bathroom (we shipped 8-inch samples specifically for this project, larger than our standard 4-inch) and approved on first look.
Stone specifications and what they cost
- Walnut Travertine flooring (filled, honed, 24x24 inch tiles): 105 sq ft for the bathroom plus a small section of the adjacent dressing room. From a single quarry batch in Denizli. $9,800 with DDP shipping.
- Roman Travertine shower walls (filled, honed, 12x24 inch tiles): 87 sq ft. From our Tivoli sourcing partner. $12,400 with DDP shipping.
- Custom Muğla Marble double vanity top (78 inches x 22 inches with cutouts for two vessel sinks): $4,800.
- Pair of matching Muğla Marble Round Vessel Sinks (15-inch, batch-matched to the vanity top): $2,180 for the pair.
- Freestanding Honed Travertine Soaking Tub (a single custom piece, hand-carved over 8 weeks in our atelier, finished in May 2026 and shipped via air freight to meet the Memorial Day deadline): $14,800 including expedited shipping.
BASINCRAFT total: $43,980. About 30 percent of the total project budget went to natural stone, which is on the higher end for our projects.
What else made the room
The non-stone choices that defined the room:
Limewash walls in warm cream (Bauwerk, Acquamarina). Three coats, hand-applied over four days. Cost: $2,800 in supplies and labor.
Custom solid white oak vanity cabinetry, made by a local Riverhead NY cabinetmaker the designer has worked with for over a decade. Three drawers, soft-close, hand-rubbed oil finish. $11,200.
Brushed antique brass fixtures throughout from House of Rohl: two vessel faucets, one bathtub filler with floor-mount, one rain shower head, one handheld, one toilet flush handle. Total fixtures: $9,400.
Two large arched mirrors in brushed brass frames, custom-sized to span 30 inches above each vessel sink: $1,800 for the pair.
Four wall sconces in unlacquered brass (Allied Maker, Hempstead): $2,400.
White oak chair and small writing desk in the bathroom (the clients wanted reading space, for early-morning coffee with a book): $2,400.
European linen towels and bath sheets in oat and warm cream from a Long Island linen importer: $1,400 for the full set.
Mediterranean plants: a large potted olive tree by the window, a smaller bay laurel near the tub, fresh herb bouquets refreshed weekly by the household staff: $400 initial outlay.
Custom radiant heating under the walnut travertine floor: $4,200 installed (worth every dollar in a coastal house used in shoulder seasons).
The deadline crisis and how we solved it
In late February 2026, the custom travertine soaking tub — the centerpiece of the entire room — hit a quality issue in production. Bedrettin (my co-founder, who personally inspects all custom bathtubs) found a hairline structural crack on the underside of the tub during final QC. The crack was small but disqualifying for a bathtub of this scale and weight.
This put the Memorial Day deadline at risk. Restarting carving from a new block would have taken another 8 weeks; the tub would have arrived in late May, with no margin for the install schedule.
Our solution: Bedrettin sourced an exceptional second block from a parallel quarry visit, started a parallel carving on the new block while finishing the original tub for a secondary application (which became part of a separate hospitality project in October), and shipped the completed second tub via air freight — not ocean — to make the deadline. The air freight cost an additional $3,200 above our standard DDP, which we absorbed.
The tub arrived May 12. Install completed May 23. The clients used the bathroom for the first time on Memorial Day weekend, exactly as planned.
What the clients say about the room three months in
I followed up in late August. Quote from the wife: "It's the room I never want to leave. The light in the morning, the warmth of the floor, the weight of the tub when you sit in it — it's the only room in our life that has improved every single day. I've sent so many friends to your atelier I should be on commission."
From the husband: "My quiet two hours every morning are the only reason I haven't burned out yet this summer. The room earns its cost annually."
What we learned, what we'd repeat
The three-travertine specification was bold and correct. One travertine would have been a quieter room; the three-travertine room layered light in a way that surprised everyone, including the designer.
Batch-matching the vanity sinks and vanity top mattered. Same lesson as the Greenwich project: small variation in sourcing creates visible variation in finished install. Always batch-match.
The custom soaking tub was the project's emotional center. Without the bathtub, the room would have been beautiful. With it, the room became the clients' favorite space in the entire house. This is what custom hand-carved stone enables that off-the-shelf pieces cannot.
Air freight absorption was the right call. Our reputation with this designer — who has 4 other projects in our pipeline through 2027 — was worth more than the freight cost differential.
The clients used the project to anchor a broader lifestyle change. The morning routine in the new bathroom became a habit. The room earned its cost not just aesthetically but functionally — they actually use it in a different way than they used the previous bathroom.
If you're planning a similar project
- Allow more lead time than you think you need, especially for custom pieces. We recommend 10–12 weeks for custom bathtubs; this project's 8-week production window was tight.
- Consider three closely-related stones over one stone throughout. The layered approach reads richer.
- Sample larger pieces than you typically would. Our 8-inch samples for this project (vs. standard 4-inch) made the three-travertine decision much easier to confirm.
- Build relationships with designers who have worked with hand-carved stone before. Generalists in luxury markets sometimes don't know how to specify or sequence around our production timelines; specialists make the project much smoother.
- Custom work requests are typically initiated 8–16 weeks before installation. For Memorial Day 2027 deadlines, start now (August 2026).
Frequently asked questions
How much does a custom hand-carved travertine bathtub cost?
For our atelier, custom bathtub pricing ranges from $11,500 to $22,000 depending on stone variety, dimensions, finish, and installation complexity. Air freight (if required for deadline) adds $2,800–$4,200. Full standard quote turnaround: 5–7 business days.
How long does a custom bathtub take to make?
8–12 weeks in our atelier, plus shipping. Air freight reduces shipping from 4–6 weeks to 7–10 days; ocean is standard.
Can I see the finished Sagaponack room?
Photos are featured in our Projects gallery. The clients consented to photo use with their location described as "Sagaponack, NY" only.
Did you absorb the air freight cost on this project?
Yes. The production issue was our quality control catching a defect we wouldn't ship; we chose to absorb the cost rather than miss the client deadline. This is not standard — most production schedule shifts on customer-side are billed at cost. But it was our defect catch, so we made it right.
How do I start a similar custom project?
Begin with a custom work request describing your design intent, dimensions, stone preference, and target timeline. We respond within 3 business days with a preliminary design direction, pricing range, and lead-time estimate.
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