Job Listing: 1569

A family, in Sag Harbor, needs to hire a formally trained live-in couple. The couple must be fully accustomed to a highly structured, traditional, European-style household, with genuine understanding of white-glove service, formal presentation, discretion, and correct deportment. Must be comfortable wearing uniform, serving properly and consistently, receiving the family and guests correctly, and maintaining the house with real pride and discipline. The property consists of an eight-bedroom main house, a separate two-bedroom guest apartment with living room and kitchen, and a pool house with gym, sheds, terraces, and outdoor areas. It is therefore a substantial property, and it must be maintained throughout to a consistently high level. Separate staff accommodation consisting of a three-bedroom apartment with living room, kitchen, and one bathroom will be offered (occasionally shared with other staff.

Responsibilities include: full housekeeping and care of the entire property, maintaining the main house, guest apartment, pool house, gym, terraces, sheds, and all surrounding areas, making beds and preparing bedrooms properly, excellent laundry skills, including the care of fine linens, monogrammed items, ironing sheets, folding shirts correctly, and overall wardrobe and linen management, food shopping when the chef is not in residence, preparing simple meals when required, correct table setting, formal meal service, and drink service, silver cleaning and general care of service pieces, maintaining household equipment, gym areas, and car presentation, setting up and clearing away pool furniture and pool-related items, occasional care of the family’s bulldogs, including walking, cleaning, and general care, running errands as needed, receiving us and our guests properly at the door, maintaining a formal standard of service and appearance at all times, being entirely comfortable in uniform and understanding the discipline and presentation this requires, working fully unsupervised and taking initiative without needing to be managed closely, and ensuring the property is always kept in order, rather than only being prepared shortly before our arrival.

Although there is a maintenance manager who comes by once a week to check that the property is in order, the couple must be perfectly capable of operating independently and taking full responsibility for the smooth day-to-day running and presentation of the house. Working hours, when family are in residence for three months a year: 7:00 am-9:00 pm or later if they are entertaining. As they are absent for a substantial part of the year, there is ample time for this intensity to be balanced across the seasons. Salary range: $200-250k and benefits. End of July start.