SAGAPONACK HOUSE
SAGAPONACK, NEW YORK
PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT FRANCES
This project stitches together a residential compound made up of barns that was originally built in the 1970s and reconfigured by new owners since.
In the mid 1970’s, the architect Tod Williams created a modest house for himself by connecting three small 19ᵗʰ century barns he had purchased and relocated to an undeveloped property in Sagaponack. The largest barn was a living and dining area, one housed a bedroom and bathroom, and one was a studio.
The house was sold in the mid eighties. The new owner added a pool, a long wing of bedrooms, and an addition that all but swallowed the small bedroom barn in an effort to create a new but rather clumsy entry.
Our work began when yet new owners, sensitive to the original design scheme, wanted to regain its clarity while adding their own layer of space and program.
The new structure we built to connect the original barns to the 1980s addition becomes the social core of the house, linking them with dining and living areas.
The ground level of the new addition is transparent, allowing for views of the old barns and visually connecting the front and rear yards.
A stair from this level leads to a home office mezzanine, where one of the owners, an Egyptologist, maintains his archeological archives.
A skylight brings light to the home office mezzanine and the floor below.
The overall impression of the house is like that of a palimpsest, where generations of building are layered one over the other, putting past and present in conversation.
The project also restored the 1980s addition, which houses the primary bed and bath, as well as a guest room and powder room.
The original barn was restored and re-furnished as the main living area of the compound.
