Greenport Motel Featured in Italian Magazine

 The Silver Sands is in the spotlight again.

The longtime Greenport motel was recently featured in Grazia Italy magazine; the photo shoot was done at the Silver Sands in October.

"It features Prada and Louis Vuitton clothes," said Terry Keefe, whose family owns the establishment. He added that Kelsey Gerry was the model featured in the shoot, which was photographed by Bridget Fleming — no relation to the Southampton Town councilwoman of the same name.

Keefe said the photo shoot was a great opportunity to showcase the Silver Sands. "We've always been known as predominantly a summer place, and this shoot really captured the atmosphere of the fall out here. It's quieter certainly, but it's also one of the most beautiful times of the year."

Keefe has also been busy — with a background in film production, he just produced a film, "The Red Robin," starring Judd Hirsch and C.S. Lee of "Dexter," that premiered at the Montreal Film Festival. He also writes the online comic book series "Supernovas" for Red Giant Entertainment.

But he leaves the Silver Sands photo shoots to others. "Although I have done my fair share of photography and filmmaking myself, I don't think I'm particularly great at capturing what's unique about our properties with my own work. I've tried. It requires an objective eye who can pick out special backgrounds and bring them out. Bridget is amazing at that — shooting against the cottage's 1960s rug patterns and decor — and making older styles and decor look chic once more," he said.

It's not the first time the Silver Sands has taken a star turn: In July,the motel was featured in a photo spread in Harper's Bazaar featuring high-profile designer Stella McCartney.

That photo shoot took place in June at the Silver Sands.

According to Keefe, who returns home from Los Angeles every summer to help run the front desk of the mom-and-pop business, just as he's done since he was a kid, the July magazine spread represented the first time such a famous designer had been featured at the site.

"It's great," Keefe said.

Over the years, however, offers have come in to shoot at the Silver Sands. "We want to avoid things like horror films," he laughed. The motel, he said, has been used for location shoots for Vogue and Mademoiselle.

Since 1961, the Silver Sands, owned by Keefe's mother Jean Burden and uncle Ed Jurzenia, has offered guests a peaceful vacation by the water, with both rooms and cabins available.

Keefe, a journalist and comic book writer involved in indie film who has been spending summers at the Silver Sands since he was five years old, said the motel was also the site for classes offered by the Manhattan Film Institute in July. 

"We're trying to bring out more film-related projects," Keefe said. "The people are here, anyway."

Hollywood has given the  Silver Sands the nod in the past, Keefe said: Indie director Todd Haynes wrote the film Velvet Goldmine while staying there in Room #1 during the middle of the winter for a few weeks in the late 90s. "He eventually directed it, starring Christian Bale," Keefe added.