High Bluff House

On the high, sandy bluffs overlooking the Peconic Bay, a new community has been emerging that has become the alternative to the ultra-glamorous Hamptons scene. Along this quietly magical coastline kitesurfing, paddleboarding, reading books, and having long dinners with family and friends carries the most currency. It is a decidedly slower pace there, where the local fishmonger and farm stands are the places to see and be seen. The community here has an appreciation for timeless design, a connection to nature, respect for context and culture, and values family time above all.

When we were contacted by a family that had purchased a beautiful but challenging high bluff site with incredible views over the bay to the North Fork and Robins Island, we welcomed the challenge of creating a family retreat on a beautiful but ultra-narrow site. In addition to being 2 combined small lots, the 2.5 acre site was only 125 feet wide and 900 feet long, which is non-compliant with current zoning regulations. Thoughtful master planning such a site to confirm it would be a viable home site for the client became our first priority during the process. It was decided that breaking the home into components; a linear L-shaped home that maximized the best views to the East and North, while creating a separate barn structure for secondary program provided the optimal family compound strategy for this unique site.

The vision of the main house was that of a minimalist barn, clad inside and out with simple, warm materials, while celebrating the utilitarian sliding barn doors and openness that can be achieved in a modern barn design. We embraced this approach and found thoughtful moments for color and material, special lighting, and many architectural alignments within and outside of the architecture. Our design priority was maximizing openness at the ground floor towards the view of the bay. To achieve this, we employed a hurricane-proof stacking window system with ultra-large openings and the world’s slimmest sightlines. The end result is a home that seems to float above the landscape, with a seamless connection between interior and exterior spaces.

The more private, upper stories of the home stand in contrast to the open and minimalist ground floor façade. Punched window openings in the bedrooms and hallways are protected from hurricane winds by a series of sliding shutters. The configuration and pleasing rhythm of the shutters along the façade becomes a defining characteristic of the house, adding depth and additional movement, both literally and figuratively, to the façades.
A separate heavy timber, cedar-clad barn houses a two-car garage, entertainment room, loft, and a yoga studio. Hidden under the cedar siding are high-performance structural insulated panels (SIPs) and the southwesterly roof plane, hidden from view, is completely clad in photovoltaic panels. The entertainment room is a play area by day, but converts to a cutting-edge projection theater after dark. Surround sound speakers and high-performance subwoofers are strategically hidden in the walls to enhance the experience.

Strategically placed to preserve a sprawling cherry tree, the long barn and parking court bisects the site between the home and the road and acts as a protective gateway between the more public and private areas of the site. Over time, the terraced planters, meadows and trees will grow and expand within the long site, creating additional privacy and layered spaces along the long path of discovery from the front gate to the great Peconic Bay beyond. The visitor’s route will bend and bow with these incremental changes, and the site will become more nature than architecture.

Photography by Michael Biondo.