Along the shores of Quantuck Bay (West Hampton) lies an elongated building lot with a building area, oriented to the south and perpendicular to the most interesting view of the lake.

From the very beginning, we wanted to connect the house and pool house in one, long building. The result is a socle-like volume containing bedrooms, garages and wellness area while the first floor offers space for all living areas and guest house.

We started the design from the idea of ​​creating an uplifted landscape with open and closed space. The cantilevered floor of the first floor serves as a metaphor for a new horizon. On this raised slab, the volumes of the house and the pool house are connected as a two-building village with gardens, wells, outdoor fireplaces.

The kinked roofline is a translation of the slope on the site. Not only does it provide the building with a both elegant and natural look; it also winks at the local architecture.

Floating roof parts make the building very light. One can compare them comfortably with large wings that want to fly but are being held by the heavy natural stone volumes of the fireplaces.

The facade will be clad with wooden planks ­— respectively vertically and horizontally — on the ground floor and the first floor and interrupted by large windows with minimal frames.

The interior will be purified with a focus on cosiness. Most walls and all ceilings are made of wood. Other walls, tablets are finished in natural stone.

Although the building looks very open from the outside, we created separate living spaces in the interior, each with its own character. The largest room is the kitchen, which, like the sump, breakfast corner and large covered terrace, overlook the bay in an atmosphere where time and space seem to intertwine…

Architecture and Interior design : Vandenborre Architecten