Residence on Long Island

Our design for this oceanfront villa borrows from French Directoire precedents. Organized around a long, two-storey central block to which lower service wings are connected by curved hyphens, the house forms a square entry court commensurate with the formal symmetry of the massing. At the ocean side, the two-storey volume stands alone – the wings receding – to reduce the perceived size of the house, and to open up views along the beach as well as out to sea.

The plan arranges the formal principal rooms enfilade along the south, while a sequence of broad galleries links informal living and service areas to the east and west. The section reveals a series of panelled rooms with a consistency of detail and scale that is relieved at the center of the house by the elliptical double-height stair hall.