010 Amagansett House
010 Amagansett House
Project Type: House 5000 SF
Location: Amagansett,NY
Client: Jon Rosen, Tiina Laakkonen
Year: Completion 2011
Collaborators: Tim Furzer
The house is situated on a gently undulating, four acre property, amidst a wooded area in Amagansett, Long Island. The building is envisioned as a series of discrete barn-like volumes that are oriented in response to the views, topography and light. The three archetypal forms, house the three different aspects of program – the owner’s house, the guest house and the intermediate communal house. The central kitchen, living, dining volume is rendered more “industrial” with painted horizontal siding and a seamed zinc roof to distinguish it from the adjacent shingle clad structures. The clarity of the client’s brief, and their appreciation of the rural building traditions of Long Island and Finnish Design helped conceptualize the project and provide a clear direction for the material palate.
The angular shifts between the three parts of the main house are resolved by the steel and glass connectors that create a break in the vernacular materiality and allow each house to stand by itself en-framed by the surrounding landscape. These glass links and the large openings in the central volume visually and physically connect the domestic front (lawn and pool) to the more rustic back (woods and trees). The importance of keeping the existing trees in place and a minimum of earth removal provided a framework for the overall layout of the house and the placement of the pathways.
The interior walls are lined with horizontal painted wood boards. The floors are polished concrete at ground level and painted wood in the sleeping spaces upstairs. The material choices of the architectural interior are highlighted by the placement of skylights that bring light in unexpected ways and enhance the crisp geometry of the interior. The seemingly understated design of the house provides the perfect setting for the client’s carefully curated collection of interior furnishings .