The woods of East Hampton were the site of active architectural exploration throughout the post-war era. This project started out as a small experimental project developed by an architect/builder in the mid-1970’s. A mere three rooms, the home offered a few compelling formal gestures, but was otherwise completely disengaged from its site and it poor repair. Poorly executed drainage and poor structural connections meant that the original structure suffered rot, mold, and required a complete rework.
Rather than simply demolishing the house, LABhaus endeavored to restore the existing structure and expand it into a beautiful, horizontal estate set among the mature pines of the coastal barens. The exterior was rendered in a monochromatic warm charcoal, taken from the bark of the pine forest, with inset black basalt flooring flowing inside and out set off against white interior walls. The massing was treated as a series of alternating volumes and slabs- a flat roof floating over a ribbon for glass, and a series of four perpendicular masses supporting the structure and defining the spaces. The main living spaces step down two feet to provide an airy central volume, with a simple white block of the fireplace holding up the roof at the point of fissure–as a massive linear skylight divides the roof plane in two. The kitchen plays a similar note, with bleached ash custom cabinetry cladding a central chimney which likewise pierces a 16′ long skylight over the working surface. The raised bedroom level features warmer tones– with grey washed live-oil European oak floors and rich charcoal bathrooms.
