Summer is upon us, and you know what that means: We’re dreaming of beach days. For some New Yorkers, a beach trip means driving (or taking the Jitney or the LIRR) out to the East End of Long Island for the weekend, slipping away into a world of bike rides, swimming pools, wineries, farm stands, and barbecues. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have your own home out there, or maybe you’re among the many hoping for an invitation from a friend (or some tenuous connection)—exchanging wine, flowers, good manners, and good spirits for a weekend away from the city heat.

For anyone who loves the Hamptons (or aspires to spend more time out there), one of the most alluring aspects of the area is what’s beyond those perfectly manicured hedges. What architectural marvels and charming, renovated beach shacks lie down that private cul-de-sac?

We may never know. Luckily, the new book Inside the Hamptons, written by Jennifer Ash Rudick and photographed by Tria Giovan, shares a glimpse of some of the most stunning homes in the Hamptons, and a snapshot of the different personalities, lives, and decor stylings at play.

“The Hamptons has been part of my life since the mid-1980s, when I first stayed with a friend in a rambling Shingle Style house on East Hampton’s Main Street,” Rudick tells Vogue. She had just come back from studying in Europe, and was “struck by how thoroughly American this place felt,” with its “whitewashed Louis XVI chairs covered in blue ticking, a Picasso sketch hanging next to framed menus from long-closed restaurants.” In choosing the homes featured in the book, Rudick prized “authenticity over spectacle,” she adds. “A house has to say something true about the person living in it.”

“The Hamptons is many things to many people, but at its best it’s a solid community, one with a long memory and a layered history,” Rudick says. “I’d like to think these photographs and stories become part of that record, something that builds a sense of shared identity and belonging for everyone who loves this place, whether they’ve been coming for generations or discovered it last summer.”

Below, take a look at some of the special homes featured in Inside the Hamptons.