If The Surf Lodge has charm and wow factor, Cardoso and Campbell’s beach house elevates that aesthetic to a more subtle, arty note. “I wanted the amazing light and skylights to be the stars,” Cardoso explains. “You should be able to walk into a beach house in your bathing suit and sand and sit on a couch. Scott is from Colorado—he’s super-mellow.” She snapped up a patchwork of five Moroccan rugs sewn together at her pal Claudja Bicalho’s store, Lazypoint in Amagansett. (Bicalho and boyfriend Mark Wilson helped curate the home.) “My friend Bob [Melet] finds vintage linens for Ralph Lauren,” she says. “He found me the old comforter on the couch.” And while the bedroom is white-on-white with a hide throw, Cardoso occasionally adds scarves from Surf Bazaar at The Surf Lodge or from model Liya Kebede’s LemLem line for a punch of color.


The couple on the porch, Cardoso in a dress by LemLem by Liya Kebede

 
  A Mark Wilson landscape from Lazypoint in Amagansett (one of the couple’s favorite stores), a vintage alaia surfboard from Jeff Taylor and a Brazilian spirit costume wearing a yellow lei

The overall look? “Modern with hippie accents,” says Cardoso, who collects artifacts like a groovy archeologist when she travels. A wooden bowl from Indonesia perched on a stool from Cameroon serves as a side table. Wilson designed a driftwood table and chair; the vintage surfboard and glowing recycled gas-pipe light are from Jeff Taylor. Next to the surfboard hangs a Brazilian spirit costume—a museum piece wearing a yellow lei. Notable artists in their subdued collection include Ross Bleckner, Eric Freeman and Mark Wilson. Legendary Montauk photographer Peter Beard gave Cardoso a sweet image of a baby tiger.

Her so-called day job comes with benefits. When designer Tracy Feith created a teepee for The Surf Lodge, the town of Montauk would not let the hotel use it. So, it became a rug in Cardoso’s bedroom. “And if my teepee rug weathers from wear,” she says, “it will be even nicer.”

While Cardoso and Campbell enjoy serving freshly grilled fish and caipirinhas to friends, she plans to eventually create a destination hotel with a restaurant and chic drinks. “Perhaps in Mexico or Brazil,” says Cardoso, who also adores North Island in the Seychelles. “I’d like to create a destination holistic spa.” But for now, her Brazilian pride comes through here at home. “When I found a Brazilian flag pillow at ABC,” she says, “I was literally jumping up and down.”