RE-COVER Residence
•Lot size: 0.5 acres
•Building size: 1,500 sq. ft.
•Location: Amagansett, New York
•Program: Single Family Residence
•Year: (original 1974) 2008
•Contractor: Paul Cassidy
•Estilo: Nórdico
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.

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.
Planta de
conjunto con curvas de nivel
Plantas arquitectónicas
Plantas arquitectónicas
(antes)
Ubicación:
•New York, USA
•Amagansett, New York
The home recently won the 2008 Peconic
Honor Award for Architecture/Renovations & Additions. The Re-Cover House
will also be showcased in Dwell’s upcoming April edition. We love that this
house has retained its original character, and required very little new
material to do so. The owners are happier with their additional square footage
and modern updates, and no trees were sacrificed in the upgrade of this house.