Southampton, New York, USA
Shelton Mindel & Associates turned a Long Island garage and mechanical building into a pool house with a sculpture garden and views of the nearby creek.
The Long Island Waterside Retreat Pool House has been awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
From the outside, the house has an exterior vernacular similar to those of the adjacent buildings.
However, moving towards the inside one realizes that the architects managed to turn the opaque seemingly traditional building type into a modernist two-story light-filled cube, with amazing views of the garden and pool.
Thanks to the large windows, the interior seamlessly blends with the pool and sculpture garden, providing a breathtaking view.
The furnishings, both inside and outside, are comprised of Bauhaus building blocks that blur further the lines between exterior and interior, sculpture and furniture.
The concrete floor is similar in palette to the stone and wood surfacing used as the exterior paving.
A concrete-colored rug and a floating ceiling of levitating portholes define the main seating area in the two-story living space.
Some of the same furniture is used inside and outside, an orange spinning sculptural cube generates the color of the seating that surrounds the round Poul Kjaerholm dining table.
Following the same principle, the upstairs bedroom becomes a maple tree house that faces the view of the sculpture garden, swimming pool, outdoor room, and creek.
Project: Long Island Waterside Retreat Pool House
Architects: Shelton Mindel & Associates
Client: Private
Photographers: Michael Moran
