Hampton Bays Featured In HGTV Show ‘Beachfront Bargain Hunt’

After working in New York City for 20 years, Blair Shapiro wanted to permanently move to the Hamptons. She grew up on the North Shore and was looking for a beach house in Hampton Bays for the peaceful lifestyle and the beaches.

Working with her real estate agent, Jeanmarie Braat of Saunders & Associates, they were contacted by HGTV to possibly be on the show “Beachfront Bargain Hunt.”

“I guess we ticked off the boxes that [HGTV] wanted in their show,” Ms. Shapiro said. “There was a nondisclosure that we had to sign, though.”

Ms. Shapiro and Ms. Braat appeared on season 26 of “Beachfront Bargain Hunt” in an episode titled “Escaping the City to Live at the Beach.” The episode was filmed for about 10 days in December 2019, but aired in February this year.

“[The show] was a fun experience,” Ms. Shapiro said. “I did it to have some fun and to give accolades to my agent who worked really hard to help me find my home.”

On the show, spanning 30 minutes, the “bargain hunter” and the real estate agent are shown looking at a few houses, exploring the neighborhood and visiting local establishments.

Ms. Shapiro looked at various houses in Hampton Bays but enjoyed the Rampasture neighborhood the best.

“I absolutely love the house that I’m in now. The area, Rampasture, is chill vibes, it’s families, neighborhood watch, and luxury of having a beach and a dock,” Ms. Shapiro said.

In “Escaping the City to Live at the Beach,” three establishments were featured: a yoga studio, an antique shop, and a winery.

Good Ground Antique Center on Main Street in Hampton Bays has been family owned since 1912, and current owner Karen Andrews is proud of its heritage and historic features. She has been the owner since 2002, when she took over the business, then known as Davi’s, from her mother, Marian Scholz.

Good Ground Antiques is a multidealer shop, which means that Ms. Andrews rents out her space to antique dealers and they bring in their own merchandise for her to sell while paying her rent.

Ms. Andrews said that Ms. Shapiro had been in the shop before and suggested that they film there to the “Beachfront Bargain Hunt” producer.

The filming only took about an hour, and she met the crew before the shop opened.

“I was very honored that they asked,” Ms. Andrews said. “I’m excited to share the shop and am very proud of it and that it lasted this long, as it is hard for a mom-and-pop store to survive.”

Ms. Braat has been a real estate agent for eight years, with four years at Saunders. She grew up in Western New York but moved to the Hamptons after her husband, Kevin Braat, took a job here.

“The Hamptons real estate market doesn’t follow the ebb and flow of the national real estate market. … It is an isolated market where most homes are secondary homes,” Ms. Braat said.

This was Ms. Braat’s first experience of being on “Beachfront Bargain Hunt,” but she says that it was fun and great.