In 1991, the founders of LeSportsac, Sandie and Mel Schifter asked me to renovate
their
Pond
Lane residence in Southampton. The residence was a complex grouping of three
structures
that
had been conjoined in the 1940s by a member of The Hearst family.
These included a stately 19th Century Farm House, a Dairy Barn from the early 20th
Century,
and a Chicken Coop of undetermined age and provenance.
The project required a complete gutting of the interior, new mechanical, electrical,
and
plumbing
systems, the addition of a solarium off the large country kitchen, the conversion
of
the
original barn hay loft into a vast Master Suite, the creation of two porches at the
primary
points of entry, new windows and exterior doors, a proper foundation for the
chicken
coop,
and a complete re-sheathing of the exterior building envelope.
I selected large scale Cypress shingles for this last task which gave the residence
a
substantial
scale and a seamless quality. These shingles were sourced from reclaimed wood
benches
from
the demolished Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The owners were avid collectors of unique furnishings, art, and accessories
including an
entire
Mackintosh dining set replete with cutlery and linens designed by the master, as
well
as
many one-of-a-kind furniture pieces by Ettore Sottsass, the Italian Architect known
for
his
whimsical and colorful Memphis creations.
The 1600 square foot Living Room was large enough to accommodate not only the
aforementioned
Mackintosh dining grouping, but also a separate 12 seat stainless steel and glass
dining
table across the vast space by Carlo Scarpa with chairs by Fornasetti, as well as
two
separate
commodious seating areas.
The Master Bedroom ceiling was left exposed to the original barn shape which I
sheathed
in
copper foil which was up-lit providing a warm glowing envelope with an origami
quality
of
folded planes, a technique I learned at Paul Rudolph's West 57th Street Atelier in
the
mid
1970s.
