This
is a summer beach house in the resort community of the Pines on Fire Island New
York. The typology of the homes in the
Pines is recognizable to anyone who has visited an East Coast Shoreline resort
town. It is a builder- driven typology
reflecting the pragmatism of the inhabitants of these coastal communities. Almost always the “good sense” pragmatism
that allows these homes to be built affordably overtakes the inherent
liveliness and natural spirit of the place and creates structures that are a
bit dull. This project inserts some of
the “spirit of the shore” into this “Yankee thriftiness” residential
typology. Common detail and material
remain, but the volume of the house is expressed as a skin, rather than as a
box-like container. The skin keeps the heat in. Over time, the skin of woven
cedar boards will assume the same patina as neighboring houses. Large windows
are introduced to reveal a luxurious light interior.
The
organization of the plan creates a direct link between the occupation of the
different spaces during the day and the sun’s path. Program adjacencies were
carefully studied before identifying the swimming pool as the center of social
interaction. Interior rooms and exterior spaces were arranged to track the path
of the summer sun, connecting it to the rhythm of daily life: breakfast by the
pool; cocktails and socializing on the front terrace; and evening dinners in
the west light. Sleeping rooms form the backstage of the house.
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