Stone Houses

East Hampton, NY

This weekend retreat sits on a flat, open 12 acre site. The clients, a mother and daughter, requested a low-maintenance residence that incorporated Westchester granite and great expanses of glass to take in views of the property. LSS introduced dry-stack stone walls to unify exterior and interior spaces and to knit the compound together. The walls, linked by water features, provide a unifying texture and distinguish the private, southern-oriented arrival side of the buildings from the northern-facing curtain walls.

The mother’s house is split into public and private wings by a gallery overlooking a sculpture court. The public wing is a singular volume subdivided by wrapping roofs – the lower roof creates an intimate dining area and screened porch, while the upper one defines the entry vestibule and living room. The daughter’s house is composed of perpendicular roof planes which over-sail the stone walls, and a taut box of oak glu-lam portal frames are wrapped in a continuous skin of louvers.

The two buildings together create an abstract composition of planar materials which redefine the property as a series of internal and external courtyards spaces for the family. The Stone Houses received an AIA New York State Architecture Award.