When the search for a weekend house drags on for four years, it is normal for houses that had not passed the initial examination to be reconsidered. That was the case for a New York couple who, along with her longtime friend and interior designer Stacey Gendelman, reimagined a languishing turn-of-the-century mansion in Westchester on the Long Island Sound. Although the client felt that the house’s septic system was too outdated and the interiors too cluttered to be taken seriously at first glance, a year later they focused more on the terrain’s inspiring mix of forest and coastal scenery, not to mention the opportunity to call off an exhausting search. The couple bought the seaside property in 2018.
The AD100 company Ike Kligerman Barkley (IKB) had joined the family project team during the search for the perfect weekend house, and all parties quickly set regarding addressing the shortcomings of the Georgian building in earnest. The owners promised to carry out an expansion of just under a kilometer of the sewer system that would benefit some 30 more homes along its route. IKB spent six months designing and costing a remodeling that would adapt to three older children who were mating little by littleas well as parents who wanted to grow old at home.
“People lived very differently at that time: the house had a hall with capacity for 200 people, but there was no living room,” the mother recalls. “And the only place to park was located in a Alex Reed house.” Rather than shoehorn casual multi-generational living into an artifact from another era, the owners, with Gendelman’s guidance, ultimately decided to put IKB’s construction plans on the table and allocate your budget from renovation to a residence made to measure by the company.
Asked if clients tend to take such a drastic turn, John Ike, namesake of IKB, replies: “This was a bit different. [de la norma], in the sense that we are following the path of an alternative approach. But the decision was wise, because even in this circumstance, the design fees are only a fraction of the total cost of the project, and [los clientes] they got what they really wanted.”
What they really wanted, recalls the architect, with smiling modesty, “was the IKB style of roof tiles,” which his colleague, director Ross Padluck, defines as “a contemporary take on the shingle style that remains familiar and comfortable for a family home.”
Ike points more seriously: “Identifying components of our typical house include a one-room plan, which is open and flowing. To achieve these characteristics, IKB uniquely used kiln-dried white oak posts and beams, and by centering the structural load of the building in this wooden frame, the perimeter was released for the windows: “The system is almost Miesian; the structure and amount of glass are very modern. And while I can’t say if our approach has wide applicability, we’re producing good work that makes clients happy.”
Gendelman similarly describes their efforts: “They’re a very elegant and interesting couple, and they wanted a house where they might invite people but also retreat to a private space”, says the designer from Purchase, New York, of her commission: “However, to keep everyone happy, the project was also an interpretation of the balance between different ideologies.” To blend the wife’s traditionalist sensibility with the husband’s more contemporary bent, Gendelman says he sought out furniture and accessories that represented art and craft in principle rather than style, and advocated a palette of finishes that was appropriate for the setting. setting and the casual lifestyle of Long Island Sound.
Today, pleasure abounds. Padluck praises the dexterity with which Gendelman “extended architecture”, while Gendelman herself states, “IKB was so tremendous architecturally, I might have gotten away with it if I’d just done a decent job.” And the client? “I feel very lucky to wake up every morning with boats and nature as well as appreciating all that we’ve worked hard to achieve for eight years,” says the wife. “This is our version of the Hamptons, and we can get to our weekend house in just half an hour.
Article originally published in AD US.
Translation and adaptation of Fernanda Toral.
