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138 Main Street
Apple Bank Building
Second Floor
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
(use for courier delivery)
P.O Box 510
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
(use for USPS delivery)
T 631.725.0229
F 631.725.0230
Profile
Bates Masi + Architects LLC, a full-service architectural firm with roots in New York City and the East End of Long Island for over 45 years, responds to each project with extensive research in related architectural fields, material, craft and environment for unique solutions as varied as the individuals or groups for whom they are designed. The focus is neither the size nor the type of project but the opportunity to enrich lives and enhance the environment. The attention to all elements of design has been a constant in the firm’s philosophy. Projects include urban and suburban residences, schools, offices, hotels, restaurants, retail and furniture in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. The firm has received 43 design awards since 2003 and has been featured in national and international publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, and Dwell. Residential Architect Magazine selected Bates Masi one of their 50 Architect’s We Love. A gallery exhibition in May 2010 featured the firm’s earlier work from 1960-70.
Paul Masi spent childhood summers in Montauk and currently resides in Amagansett. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from Catholic University and a Masters of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He worked at Richard Meier & Partners before joining this firm in 1998.
Harry Bates, a resident of East Hampton, received a Bachelor of Architecture from North Carolina State University. After ten years with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he was in private practice in New York City for 17 years before moving the firm to Southampton on the East End in 1980. Our offices are currently located in Sag Harbor with plans to relocate to a new LEED Certified office building of our own design in East Hampton.
























































































Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 3,200 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of the ocean, a site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering; a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean. A sequence of auxiliary spaces - beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – creates a seamless ritual of the daily activities for the family and friends. In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape.
The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket
into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with geo-thermal heating and cooling, shading and venting systems, solar panels, and organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with a prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promote a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Genius Loci
Lot size: 1.6 acres
Building size: 7,000 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Davis Builders
Montauk, NY, resembles many other small seaside communities. However, it possesses unique characteristics that imprint lasting memories. The weather is unpredictable with banks of heavy fog and gusty winds. History is closer to folklore than truth with stories of the Montauk Project Conspiracy, German Submarines and, the Montauk Monster blurring the line between fact and fiction. Remnants of the past such as a radar tower and bunkers are scattered throughout the landscape. Socially, there is a seasonal migration and mix of economic classes. The clients could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but were lured to Montauk by the characteristics that make it unique from other areas. These characteristics embody the “Spirit of Montauk” and the clients challenged the architect to design a house that would embody and capture this spirit.
Formerly a horse ranch, the rolling green pasture of the site is located at one of the highest elevations in Montauk. The extensive program is terraced and embedded into the steep slope of the hill without compromising access to the exterior or natural light. Approaching from the south, the house appears to be two modest and separate one-story ranch houses. Circling around to the north, the house unfolds to reveal a more extensive project. In this case, the conventional
Montauk building typology of the low-pitched gabled roof is modified by the geometries of the allowable building envelope and height restrictions of the site. The ridge is offset and the walls converge, directing one’s view west to the lake. The optical illusion caused by the parabolic roof is visible on the South side and entices a second look, as do numerous other details.
Architectural details throughout the house occur at unexpected moments. A wood screen covered bridge unifies the two shingle clad volumes, allowing light into the grass paver courtyard below. The cedar screen of the bridge reads differently from day to night. It appears flat during the day, but, as darkness falls, light seeps out in an undulating pattern showing the wedge shape cut in the back of the boards. In front of clerestory windows, a milled bluestone screen is similarly detailed. The stone appears weightless as alternating stones are removed from the pattern to let light into the guest area. These unexpected details reinforce the larger idea of capturing the unexpected.
There is no prescribed path of circulation, encouraging different encounters much like the social experiences of Montauk. One can enter beneath the bridge and up terraced planter steps revealing the rolling hills and ocean in the distance. One can also climb the exterior entry stair that mirrors the interior stair, separated by a wall of glass. One can choose to enter into the house or continue to the outdoor fireplace, dining area, and out to the pool. The exploration resulting from unique circulation yields a different memorable experience for everyone.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Northwest Peach Farm
Lot size: 10 acres
Building size: 7000 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
This residence is primarily used when the clients’ extended family comes from England for long visits. They come to relax and to reconnect with their family and with nature, away from city crowds and traffic, at a retreat they neither want nor need to leave for a month. The design objective was to make every day of that month unique by providing a range of destinations within the site with diverse scales, functions, and views: from gathering in the expansive living room overlooking the fields of the former peach orchard to reading alone on a shaded bench between the library and the edge of the forest. Multiple paths and hallways connect each destination, further increasing variety. Finally, each detail and custom furnishing is designed to make mundane rituals into thoughtful events.
For example, in the kitchen, rolling cutting boards ride in tracks down the long island, turning meal preparation into an assembly line for everyone’s participation. Those not cooking can make a selection from the wine room where the bottles cast a pattern of shadows through a glazed wall into the main entrance. The dining table can be configured for the evening: stainless steel tubes running the length of the table can be rotated to reveal candleholders, flower
vase holders, or flat surfaces for hot dishes. At other times, the tubes can be removed and the trough filled with ice for chilling drinks. For a change of pace, there is dining on the roof deck at sunset, barbequing on the terrace, lunch in the shade of the pool house canopy, or breakfast in the screened porch. Each space is unique, making each meal special.
Even the morning routine becomes an event. In the kids’ rooms, a ribbon of stone traces their morning ritual. Starting as a nightstand by the bed, it becomes a bench for their pile of clothes, a desk for checking their email, a sink in the bathroom, and, finally, the shower floor. In the parents’ master closet, hidden steel hooks pivot up from the mahogany bench to hang the day’s outfit choices.
The clients wanted this to be a gathering place for their family, full of memories for generations to come. Thus the materials were chosen not only for durability but also for their gradual changes over many years. The copper siding and roofing will slowly turn green as the weathering limestone becomes darker. However, the window system will stand the test of time unchanged. An English company has manufactured the same industrial steel windows for over 150 years and many early examples are still in tact. A geothermal heating and cooling system, green roofs, organic finishes, and triple glazed windows will minimize the structure’s environmental impact over the generations.
The clients look forward to many tranquil summers together with their family in the house.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Roaman
Lot size: 0.43 acres
Building size: 3,450 sq. ft.
Location: Amagansett, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Christopher Wesnofske
Contractor: A Harry&Sally Doghouse
A young couple with a growing family sought to redevelop property on a street of small cottages on narrow half-acre plots, requesting a proposal that could accommodate their space needs, reflect their interests and personalities, and integrate sensitively into the neighborhood. The consummate design for this photographer-naturalist duo combines highly efficient interior and exterior space organization with a dynamic articulation of materials in an architectural vocabulary at once freshly modern and deferential to its neighbors.
The main house and detached woodshop are formed and configured to collect and define discreet areas for outside activities such as guest reception, fireside entertaining, dining, swimming, and lawn sports. Articulating these zones and tailoring each to its intended purpose maximizes the yard’s utility. Extending the facades of the house and woodshop as freestanding walls furnishes each outdoor space with privacy, and tucking other spaces beneath the second story affords shelter from the elements. Ultimately, the small site’s potential is fully realized while maintaining a sense of liberal space through order.
While the house’s cantilevered second story resonates with the other homes on the street in its simple gabled structure and traditional clapboard siding, the ground level is wrapped in a unique custom-milled rainscreen siding. The top edge of each board is beveled subtly at different angles to render varying degrees of shadow and permit various amounts of transparency across the facade. As the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, high to low through the seasons, and crisp to diffuse through atmospheric changes, so too will the house’s surfaces and spaces beyond change dramatically over time. In this way a photo-graphic (light-drawing) technique is activated by changes in the natural environment, uniting the clients’ interests and lifestyle in their home and site.
Amplification of the play of light on the built structure is pursued further inside the house. Above the living room a half-butterfly roof diffuses southern sunlight through a frosted glass clerestory and reflects it deep into the dining area. At the stairwell a dormer nestled in the gabled roof lights the tall column of space from three stories above. And in the master bedroom light entering through the gable-end clerestory filters through a ceiling of the custom-milled siding.
Ultimately, the house not only serves the basic needs of its residents, but also acts as a work of kinetic sculpture, an art piece that enriches their daily lives.
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
North Main
Lot size: 0.45 acres
Building size: 4,670 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Office & Retail
Many contemporary commercial structures are planned with inherent disposability, minimizing initial cost at the expense of fortitude and long-term usefulness. This owner-occupied project challenges the conventional approach, enhancing the property’s value with durable material systems, adaptable spatial organization, and flexible building surfaces.
Insulated precast fly-ash concrete panels envelop the building’s two large uninterrupted spaces. This long-span sturdy shell will long outlast the typical tenant’s occupancy and accommodate an array of future uses. It is sheltered from the brunt of the elements by a skin of recycled modular wooden shingles held in place by custom stainless steel clips. In the same way that a car’s tires are prolonged by rotation, the panels are transferred from severe- to moderate- weathering facades and individually flipped front-to-back to maximize the material’s utility without using toxic, high-maintenance protective paints and stains. Inside, the same clips hold finished ceiling surfaces and light fixtures to the structural concrete planks. Rearranging and modifying these elements permits future users to adapt the spaces’ lighting, reflectance, acoustics, and technology without disturbing the permanent structure.
Similarly, air conditioning, voice, data, and electrical systems are modified by lifting the modular panels of a proprietary raised floor set atop the subfloor. Each panel accepts a replaceable finish layer fitted for grip, reflectance, sound attenuation, and wear-resistance.
In addition to enhancing the building’s value, the qualities of durability and flexibility also lay the foundation for its LEED Certification. Unlike many “green” buildings, this project attends to basic construction elements instead of relying on auxiliary technologies to achieve LEED credits. For instance, while the precast concrete panels are essential to the structure and envelope, they also contain an integrated insulation layer to outperform cast-in-place concrete in energy efficiency. These panels are spaced apart and pierced to introduce light wells and clerestories that reduce reliance on mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting. The wooden siding panels, once weathered to obsolescence, comprise a completely biodegradable product free of synthetic adhesives, fasteners, chemical coatings, or finishes. On the roof an array of modular planting trays insulates the building and diverts roof run-off water from the storm drains. Similarly sized photovoltaic panels may later replace some or all of these planting tray modules.
By simplifying the structure’s configuration, minimizing building technologies, facilitating future adaptation and superceding current regulations with LEED Certification criteria, the project acquires the attributes of “timelessness”; it will outlast its contemporaries and extend our natural resources.
North Main
Lot size: 0.45 acres
Building size: 4,670 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Office & Retail
Many contemporary commercial structures are planned with inherent disposability, minimizing initial cost at the expense of fortitude and long-term usefulness. This owner-occupied project challenges the conventional approach, enhancing the property’s value with durable material systems, adaptable spatial organization, and flexible building surfaces.
Insulated precast fly-ash concrete panels envelop the building’s two large uninterrupted spaces. This long-span sturdy shell will long outlast the typical tenant’s occupancy and accommodate an array of future uses. It is sheltered from the brunt of the elements by a skin of recycled modular wooden shingles held in place by custom stainless steel clips. In the same way that a car’s tires are prolonged by rotation, the panels are transferred from severe- to moderate- weathering facades and individually flipped front-to-back to maximize the material’s utility without using toxic, high-maintenance protective paints and stains. Inside, the same clips hold finished ceiling surfaces and light fixtures to the structural concrete planks. Rearranging and modifying these elements permits future users to adapt the spaces’ lighting, reflectance, acoustics, and technology without disturbing the permanent structure.
Similarly, air conditioning, voice, data, and electrical systems are modified by lifting the modular panels of a proprietary raised floor set atop the subfloor. Each panel accepts a replaceable finish layer fitted for grip, reflectance, sound attenuation, and wear-resistance.
In addition to enhancing the building’s value, the qualities of durability and flexibility also lay the foundation for its LEED Certification. Unlike many “green” buildings, this project attends to basic construction elements instead of relying on auxiliary technologies to achieve LEED credits. For instance, while the precast concrete panels are essential to the structure and envelope, they also contain an integrated insulation layer to outperform cast-in-place concrete in energy efficiency. These panels are spaced apart and pierced to introduce light wells and clerestories that reduce reliance on mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting. The wooden siding panels, once weathered to obsolescence, comprise a completely biodegradable product free of synthetic adhesives, fasteners, chemical coatings, or finishes. On the roof an array of modular planting trays insulates the building and diverts roof run-off water from the storm drains. Similarly sized photovoltaic panels may later replace some or all of these planting tray modules.
By simplifying the structure’s configuration, minimizing building technologies, facilitating future adaptation and superceding current regulations with LEED Certification criteria, the project acquires the attributes of “timelessness”; it will outlast its contemporaries and extend our natural resources.
North Main
Lot size: 0.45 acres
Building size: 4,670 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Office & Retail
Many contemporary commercial structures are planned with inherent disposability, minimizing initial cost at the expense of fortitude and long-term usefulness. This owner-occupied project challenges the conventional approach, enhancing the property’s value with durable material systems, adaptable spatial organization, and flexible building surfaces.
Insulated precast fly-ash concrete panels envelop the building’s two large uninterrupted spaces. This long-span sturdy shell will long outlast the typical tenant’s occupancy and accommodate an array of future uses. It is sheltered from the brunt of the elements by a skin of recycled modular wooden shingles held in place by custom stainless steel clips. In the same way that a car’s tires are prolonged by rotation, the panels are transferred from severe- to moderate- weathering facades and individually flipped front-to-back to maximize the material’s utility without using toxic, high-maintenance protective paints and stains. Inside, the same clips hold finished ceiling surfaces and light fixtures to the structural concrete planks. Rearranging and modifying these elements permits future users to adapt the spaces’ lighting, reflectance, acoustics, and technology without disturbing the permanent structure.
Similarly, air conditioning, voice, data, and electrical systems are modified by lifting the modular panels of a proprietary raised floor set atop the subfloor. Each panel accepts a replaceable finish layer fitted for grip, reflectance, sound attenuation, and wear-resistance.
In addition to enhancing the building’s value, the qualities of durability and flexibility also lay the foundation for its LEED Certification. Unlike many “green” buildings, this project attends to basic construction elements instead of relying on auxiliary technologies to achieve LEED credits. For instance, while the precast concrete panels are essential to the structure and envelope, they also contain an integrated insulation layer to outperform cast-in-place concrete in energy efficiency. These panels are spaced apart and pierced to introduce light wells and clerestories that reduce reliance on mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting. The wooden siding panels, once weathered to obsolescence, comprise a completely biodegradable product free of synthetic adhesives, fasteners, chemical coatings, or finishes. On the roof an array of modular planting trays insulates the building and diverts roof run-off water from the storm drains. Similarly sized photovoltaic panels may later replace some or all of these planting tray modules.
By simplifying the structure’s configuration, minimizing building technologies, facilitating future adaptation and superceding current regulations with LEED Certification criteria, the project acquires the attributes of “timelessness”; it will outlast its contemporaries and extend our natural resources.
North Main
Lot size: 0.45 acres
Building size: 4,670 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Office & Retail
Many contemporary commercial structures are planned with inherent disposability, minimizing initial cost at the expense of fortitude and long-term usefulness. This owner-occupied project challenges the conventional approach, enhancing the property’s value with durable material systems, adaptable spatial organization, and flexible building surfaces.
Insulated precast fly-ash concrete panels envelop the building’s two large uninterrupted spaces. This long-span sturdy shell will long outlast the typical tenant’s occupancy and accommodate an array of future uses. It is sheltered from the brunt of the elements by a skin of recycled modular wooden shingles held in place by custom stainless steel clips. In the same way that a car’s tires are prolonged by rotation, the panels are transferred from severe- to moderate- weathering facades and individually flipped front-to-back to maximize the material’s utility without using toxic, high-maintenance protective paints and stains. Inside, the same clips hold finished ceiling surfaces and light fixtures to the structural concrete planks. Rearranging and modifying these elements permits future users to adapt the spaces’ lighting, reflectance, acoustics, and technology without disturbing the permanent structure.
Similarly, air conditioning, voice, data, and electrical systems are modified by lifting the modular panels of a proprietary raised floor set atop the subfloor. Each panel accepts a replaceable finish layer fitted for grip, reflectance, sound attenuation, and wear-resistance.
In addition to enhancing the building’s value, the qualities of durability and flexibility also lay the foundation for its LEED Certification. Unlike many “green” buildings, this project attends to basic construction elements instead of relying on auxiliary technologies to achieve LEED credits. For instance, while the precast concrete panels are essential to the structure and envelope, they also contain an integrated insulation layer to outperform cast-in-place concrete in energy efficiency. These panels are spaced apart and pierced to introduce light wells and clerestories that reduce reliance on mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting. The wooden siding panels, once weathered to obsolescence, comprise a completely biodegradable product free of synthetic adhesives, fasteners, chemical coatings, or finishes. On the roof an array of modular planting trays insulates the building and diverts roof run-off water from the storm drains. Similarly sized photovoltaic panels may later replace some or all of these planting tray modules.
By simplifying the structure’s configuration, minimizing building technologies, facilitating future adaptation and superceding current regulations with LEED Certification criteria, the project acquires the attributes of “timelessness”; it will outlast its contemporaries and extend our natural resources.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Piersons Way
Lot size: 1.7 acres
Building size: 7,400 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project narrative forthcoming
Piersons Way
Lot size: 1.7 acres
Building size: 7,400 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project narrative forthcoming
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Northwest Landing
Lot size: 0.51 acres
Building size: 1,895 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Straddling freshwater wetlands and a tidal estuary at just six feet above sea level, this house’s site demands extraordinary sensitivity to environmental concerns. Local zoning restricts the structure’s maximum coverage and encroachment on the wetlands areas, while FEMA requirements set the first floor structure above the base flood elevation. The house’s basic massing is therefore predetermined, limited to a one story, 1,900 square foot design in 4:7 proportion, raised eight feet above the ground. The spaces within this envelope are arranged, articulated, and fenestrated with an innovative structural system that infuses the house’s inner areas with light and circulating air.
Whereas most waterfront construction uses pilings to establish an artificial ground plane upon which a conventional house is built, in this project these structural members are integral: 16 wide, exposed, glue-laminated piles stake out the enclosing walls for each of the three bedrooms and extend continuously from the ground through the roof. The residual spaces between these piles house “utility” functions: closet, desk, laundry, pantry, and shower compartment. In addition to these conventional utilities, three vertical voids are opened between the piles to serve the spaces around them. Without occupying any of the limited allowed coverage these open areas add considerable value by improving the
house’s interior environmental quality and diminishing its impact on the local environment. The benefit is threefold: each opening draws light though the interior spaces to the carport below, conducts rainwater from the roof deck to a rainwater management system, and ventilates by siphoning air through the middle of the structure.
At the roof the projecting piles serve to divide the space between a deck directly coinciding with the living areas below and a modular planting system installed directly above each bedroom. This planting system further minimizes the structure’s footprint and environmental impact. At the ground level directly underneath the main living spaces, there is room for storing the cars, boats, and yard equipment usually found under houses raised on pilings.
By allowing these voids to permeate through the house, the owners have multiple visual connections to the landscape from below, within and above the house, encouraging a sense of place.
Piersons Way
Lot size: 1.7 acres
Building size: 7,400 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project narrative forthcoming
Piersons Way
Lot size: 1.7 acres
Building size: 7,400 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project narrative forthcoming
Piersons Way
Lot size: 1.7 acres
Building size: 7,400 sq. ft.
Location: East Hampton, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project narrative forthcoming
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Mothersill
Lot size: 2.3 acres
Building size: 6,027 sq. ft.
Location: Water Mill, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Landscape Architect: Gunn Landscape Architecture
Elevated, wooden boardwalks extending into the beachscape are a common occurrence in the dunes of Eastern Long Island. Hovering over the ground, this simple pathway to the beach carefully negotiates a constantly changing terrain. Their modest construction challenges the extreme natural elements found at the intersection of land and sea. In beachfront construction, the boardwalk provides a unifying accessibility that connects disparate elements of building and landscape; it is an extension of building that is knit within the landscape. This design for a vacation home in Water Mill, NY, utilizes a boardwalk as an architectural device for weaving together multiple portions of a historic site with new building and landscape elements.
Located on a creek-front property, the site contains two culturally significant structures designed by Andrew Geller and a diversity of landscape plantings. The two Geller structures, a small house and studio, were built in 1962. Common to Geller’s architecture, a boardwalk connects the two structures. A varied collection of botanically significant plantings populates the property, including a rare specimen Yew garden, serpentine Yew, and more than 400,000 Siberian Iris. The western edge of the property slopes down to a wetland
bordering the creek. A conservation easement on the property protects the two Geller structures, Yew garden and iris, while allowing for the addition of a new main house. The owners requested a design that would unify these disparate elements. To achieve this, a constructed path traverses the site to link visual and spatial relationships between the elements. The path takes the form of a raised, wooden surface that recalls the boardwalks of Geller’s architecture.
Building and wetland setbacks, existing landscape features, site access, and conservation easement restrictions overlap to create the parameters of the meandering path. The path originates from the relocated Geller House in the Yew garden and winds around the serpentine hedge to a new swimming pool. As the path continues it passes the Geller Studio, now reprogrammed as a pool house, and connects to shaded outdoor living spaces. A new central lawn is defined as the boardwalk turns to extend through the main house. A cantilevered deck wraps the end of the main house at the termination of the path, providing views of the wetland and creek. The surface of the path folds up and over to become the enclosure of the main house, simultaneously functioning as floor, wall, and roof. All surfaces of this enclosure are constructed with the same wood decking as the boardwalk. Their uniformity gives the effect of a single envelope containing a variety of parts and reflects the influence of design in Geller's work. In these ways the physical, material, and spatial qualities of the path facilitate an architectural dialogue between the Geller structures and new house that is interwoven with the existing landscape, collecting the once individual elements into a unified whole.
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Hither Hills
Lot size: .35 acres
Building size: 3,300 sq. ft.
Location: Montauk, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Project Narrative Forthcoming
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
Sagaponack
Lot size: 2 acres
Building size: 8965 sq. ft.
Location: Sagaponack, NY
Program: Single Family Residence
Photographer: Michael Moran
Contractor: Wright & Co. Construction
Interior Designer: Bates Masi Architects
Landscape Architect: Stephen Stimson
Located between the Atlantic Ocean and a freshwater pond, this residence is for an adventurous couple and their four sons. They wanted a house for their large family and numerous guests with a lawn, swimming pool, pool house, garage, and sports courts on a site with a limited building envelope due to coastal and wetland zoning. The large program, relatively small footprint, and daunting regulations dictated a building envelope densely packed with program that stood as a barrier between the ocean and the pond. Thus the design process was one of subtraction rather than addition: carving away at the solid mass of the house to reconnect site features and views and to distill the experience of the place.
Spaces run the full width of the house with floor to ceiling sliding doors on both sides. The spaces create apertures through which views, light, and air completely penetrate the house, dissolving its mass. Passersby see directly through the house to the sky and landscape beyond. With the sliding doors open and recessed into the adjacent walls, interior spaces are transformed from formal rooms to open pavilions, merging seamlessly with the site.
To accommodate the extensive program spaces are nested within one another. Operable partitions pull out from the walls of the living room, carving out a media room within the living room when privacy is desired. Conversely, with the partitions open, the media room merges with the living room for large gatherings. The thickness of the wall separating the dining room and kitchen is also cut away, utilizing its depth to accommodate a wine rack that also functions as a light fixture.
The process of carving is applied at the material and detail level as well. The 5/8” corten steel plate that clads the base of the house is waterjet cut into a delicate pattern that defies its mass. Inside, corian is employed for the ease with which it can be milled. Corian countertops are cut to form towel bars, bunk bed frames are carved to create ladders, cabinet doors are recessed to form handles, and wainscoting is subtly etched with meaningful words chosen by the clients.
Materials were chosen not only for their workability, but also for their durability in the coastal environment. Corten steel siding is zero maintenance despite being relentlessly sandblasted by the wind. Cedar siding and screens are finished using a Victorian technique in which the iron sulfate in a blend of white vinegar and iron filings reacts with the tannins in wood, creating an ebony finish that penetrates through the material and will not require refinishing. The lack of harsh stains or finishes reduces the ecological footprint of the house. Geothermal heating and cooling as well as vegetated roofs further reduce the environmental impact.
Using the design approach of sculpting away rather than building up, the house is pared down until the experience of the extraordinary site is dominant.
