The
house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of 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 from 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 such specifics as geo-thermal heating
& cooling, shading & venting systems, solar panels, organic finishes
and materials. Lending to the
structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with
prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins minimizes
construction debris or toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With
the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the
house promotes a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural
environment.
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