LONG ISLAND ESTATE MAIN HOUSE

East Hampton, NY

Today, we live in a digital world; our lives have become virtual, and in the midst of the social media craze, anything you could want to know or see is just a click away. However, experiencing everything through secondhand information lacks authenticity. The residence offers various areas of refuge from the digital to appreciate the physical and natural. As contemporary art collectors, the family of four sought an innovative way to display art in their residence. The gallery is expressed as a discrete element from the mass of the house, articulating it as a second-story tube that cuts through the center of the house. Long gallery walls run the length of each side of the tube and large windows open to the exterior at either end. The space doubles as a lounge to the primary bedroom, merging the gallery sensibility with the functionality of a residence.

The materiality, inspired by the work of Tadao Ando, juxtaposes concrete walls with dark shou sugi ban wood siding for a dramatic interplay set against lush landscaping while rooting itself in the present while nodding to the past. Thoughtfully placed sculptures around the pool animate the exterior and complete the vision of a space where art can mingle with life.

In response to the issues of time and place, this residence is, in a sense, born of the land, its striking slanted roof mimicking the natural topography of the site. The natural topography, vegetation, and landscape are all cherished and carefully maintained. Height is regulated to work with and follow the natural ebbs and flows of the existing natural grade, generating the form of the residence. At the same time, the residence exceeds the local zoning and energy code of the Town of East Hampton, which are seen as the avant-garde leading the way for jurisdiction today in terms of energy consumption, thermal performance, and noise/light pollution.