Re-cover Residence / Bates Masi Architects
Architect: Bates Masi Architects
Location: East Hampton, NY, USA
Client: Private
Structural Engineer: Steven L. Maresca
Contractor: Paul Cassidy
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Christopher Wesnofske
Thirty-five years after the firm originally designed this vacation residence, its new owners sought to rejuvenate the house while preserving its spaces, seasoned tones, and texture. Clad inside and out almost entirely in twelve-inch wide cypress boards, the original house exuded a straightforward simplicity the owners wished to maintain. By constraining the palette of materials and reusing salvaged parts of the existing house, the line between new and old becomes nearly imperceptible, limited only to minimal inflections in finish.
ground floor plan
original ground floor plan
In the enlarged and updated baths, and in the modernized kitchen and dining terrace, a dense glacial sedimentary sandstone is used for its fine workability into a variety of finishes. In this way the stone varies subtly – only in texture – as it is reapplied from one surface to another: horizontal walking surfaces are rendered with a smooth honed finish, vertical wall surfaces with a rough flamed finish, and countertops in a glossy polished finish. This tactile language is traced consistently from room to room.
Little of the material seen in the addition is in fact new. As the south wall and deck of the house were dismantled to make room for the new construction, the cypress boards and cedar decking were carefully salvaged and machined into new siding, fine scrim material, stair treads and risers. Reused, this cladding bears precisely the same patina as the other surfaces in the house – an effect truly impossible to achieve with new construction materials. Only on close inspection is new texture and color revealed at the boards’ freshly cut edges.
In enhancing the simplicity of the original design, a subtle complexity has emerged. Splices, cuts, and finishing techniques inflect upon otherwise homogenous materials, recording the methods of craft and workmanship. Over the next thirty-five years the patina that naturally accrues over time will continue refine the delicacy of these inflections.
-
- site plan
-
- ground floor plan
-
- upper floor plan
-
- original ground floor plan
-
- original upper floor plan
Beautiful house. I liked the wood in the façade. Wish I could see more images of the terrain to understand the relationship between the house and the landscape.
wow!
I love the use of wood throughout this project.
Lovely house. Good!
When I look at the floor plan it looks like there is a door off the rear deck that goes into the bathroom shower? what’s that about?
Very cool house
It looks as though the shower and sink have windows to outside, looking out into a small latticed space. For privacy it is closed off, but a door has been provided to allow occasional access.
two thumbs up
bates masi is swiftly becoming one of my favorite firms. everything i see from them just clicks for me.
Very beautiful and economic house.
12:52 PM Apr 13th
Re-cover Residence / Bates Masi Architects | ArchDaily http://t.co/pfw5mid via @archdaily
12:51 PM Apr 17th
Re-cover Residence / Bates Masi Architects | ArchDaily http://t.co/pfw5mid via @archdaily
10:10 AM Feb 6th
Casita muy cuca :) http://t.co/iyBNF6kY #arquitectos #interiorismo