Hamptons Cottages

Southampton

2024/25 Ramparts House

A 4,300 square foot refuge on one clear acre surrounded by farmland, that gestures toward the forest at the southern edge. Fortress limestone walls undulate at the perimeter, elevating the barn-like cedar structures that pay homage to the potato farms of Southampton. The four-season home sequences multiple outdoor “rooms”, from southeast facing patios with an expansive protective pergola, to a central courtyard for ample cross-ventilation, and roof terraces with insulating green roofs full of local grasses. The Ramparts‘ mottled stone walls weave through the home and property, giving a sense of refuge while also engaging the neighboring farms and forest. A future pool will be sited at the uppermost secluded zone. Thumbnail sketches investigate site relations and sunlight. High-tech continuous insulation methods, with almost zero thermal bridging, assist in passive cooling. Copyright VSA, 2024

Watermill

2015/2020 Scuttle Hole Road

A gut renovation, we transformed a dilapidated Watermill ranch house on a tight budget to an efficient, barn-chic cheerful modern cabin; it melds into its context of glorious potato farmlands with enhanced VSA landscaping design. The home utilizes salvaged cedar wood for new front barn doors; large glass sliding doors to open onto vistas, new steel cables and wide cedar deck, copper and wood roof. We eliminated an awkward 80s bay windows for a streamlined look that resonates with adjacent farmland. The boldly colored sliding doors serve as protective shudders and open onto a breakfast terrace with landscaped path to a pavilion and gravel drive. The pavilion, added years after the renovation, was likened by the New York Times to the work of Phillip Johnson in the article, Pavilions are the Space Between Art and Architecture, 2021.