The Cool House: beach house
Showing posts with label beach house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beach house. Show all posts

Sunday, March 13, 2011

For Sale: Iconic Beach House


Featured in July 29, 1963 issue of Sports Illustrated, this iconic cottage designed by Andrew Geller for Betty Reese has just come on the market. Listed at $995,00 the three bedroom, 1.5 bath beach house sits on 5+ acres in the Hamptons and is almost untouched. Hopefully someone will jump in and enjoy it as a summer retreat, preserving it for another fifty years.
Contact Cee Scott Brown or Jack Pearson at Corcoran for more details

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Preserving the Andrew Geller Legacy


Jonathan Pearlroth, owner of the Pearlroth House

A warm October evening in the city brought out a good-sized crowd to the Andrew Geller Architectural Archive Preservation Projectat DWR East 62nd St NYC. Many Geller homeowners were there to lend their support as well as architects, authors, academics and assorted enthusiasts.


Fun facts and memories were shared by the original beach house owners at the slideshow presentation of Andrew Geller's life and work. Afterwards I met Philip Monaghan and learnt that he used the reputed first gay porno film, which was shot in the Frank House, as a resource to restore it to its former glory.


Fundraising took the form of a Silent Auction (rear of photo) and an entrance fee for which there were door prizes. Ironically The Guy won Can't You Hear Me Callin' Blue Grass: 80 Years of American Music produced by Gregg Geller (left) that I mentioned here.


It was great to see so many fans of the iconic modernist architect and I was thrilled to finally meet Andrew Geller's granddaughter jewelry maker and rabbit rescuer Nancy Schindler (left). I've been a fan of her blog The Rabbit Muse for years. Though I'm sorry about taking the prize you had your eye on, Nancy!

For more information on the Andrew Geller Architectural Archive Preservation Project or to make a tax-deductible donation visit here.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Framed Up


Recycled picture frame ceiling - an exercise in colorful creativity, and thinking outside the box - from a house built using other peoples' trash. Recycle, repurpose, reuse taken to a whole new level. From the New York Times.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Green Beach House



The first full day of summer 2009 is the date homeowner Jill Kornman has set to be lounging on the porch of her newly-built green beach house. The determination she shows to finish construction in the next six weeks is a tribute to her vision, the design plan of architects Bouler Design Group and the skill and dedication of her team of builders.



Situated on a strip of land where the Atlantic Ocean meets Long Island's Great South Bay, the house with its geo-thermal heat pump, solar panels, extra insulation, and use of green building materials, is a premier example of sustainable architecture. I've been following its progress since I first heard that BDG was building a modern house with a zero carbon footprint in Oak Beach, NY. I was lucky enough to be invited by Creative Advisor Nadine Bouler (seen here on the right with Jill on the left) to see the house at 90% complete.




BDG worked with the owner to create an energy-efficient beach house that fits the scale of the surrounding properties on this barrier beach. Although the house has a unique design, traces of the original cottage can still be seen in the north side of the building - in the remains of the screened-in porch, the arches and of course the ubiquitous shingles.



 

Superimposed upon the original footprint are two soaring towers. One of these, with its tapered walls and clerestory windows, gives the playroom/library/zen retreat (the purpose hasn't yet been finalised) the feel of a monastery within and a lighthouse outside - and superb views of the bay to the south, east and west.


Facing south the angled roofs are covered in EPDM, a non-polluting synthetic rubber roof that will support enough solar panels to provide for all the electrical needs of the 2000 sq ft house. Naturally the design of the house takes full advantage of the beautiful site. Huge sliding glass doors with transoms above allow 180 degree views of the ocean to the south, while to the east a wall of windows will flood the house with light at sunrise. But Jill goes that extra mile: mindful of the aesthetics of the building and the surrounding shore, she is having the power lines seen in this photo re-routed underground.




Although most of the finishes are chosen: polished concrete floors with inset stone though out the house; reclaimed white oak treads on the staircase and bamboo on the barrel ceiling in the living room, some have yet to be finalized, including the kitchen cabinets and guest bath. All are sustainable, but perhaps the best examples of environmentally-friendly fixtures are the banister posts made from reclaimed pilings.



Jill has been hands-on throughout the process. She interviewed several architects before finding one she believed truly shared her dream of building green and she's been able to keep a close watch on the construction, renting the house next door while her dream house is built. She chose BDG because they believe in efficient design; building smarter, not necessarily bigger, houses. For more information on the Oak Beach house and other sustainable designs visit the Bouler Design Group website.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

House Voyeur

Yesterday's voyeur tour was so popular I'm feeding your habit again. More Incorporated Village Housevoyeurism here:

Friday, May 08, 2009

Hooked on (Victorian Beach) Houses

Everyone knows I'm a modern girl, it's right there in the URL after all, but that's not to say I don't have flirtations with older architecture. I've even lived in a Victorian house - real Victorian that is, built during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), not Victorian-style - and I still love the elegance of the older ladies.

Within the Incorporated Village there are outstanding examples of late Victorian and early C20th architecture; so many that the Bay Crest area has earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

I love the shingle style "beach cottages"


their porches

 
rooflines




and turrets


The windows,


 especially the windows



the beautiful original stucco gatehouses


and the glimpses of grandeur long past.

This post is part of Hooked on Houses Friday blog fest

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Lieb House finds its new home


A month ago I posted this piece about the the start of the journey to move the Robert Venturi Lieb House from the Jersey shore to the north shore of Long Island. The beach cottage, which had been in danger of demolition, has been purchased by Deborah Sarnoff and Robert Gotkin, who plan to use it as a guest house to their own Venturi designed home. On Friday it succesfully completed the second leg of its journey from Manhattan's South Street Seaport to Glen Cove NY, a move that was documented both by news teams and by cameras for a forthcoming film Learning from Bob and Denise by James Venturi, son of the architect.
You can see the whole move in a New York Times slideshow and read the rest of the article here.
There has been a lot of discussion on architecture blogs about whether this is a judicious move, if the removal costs are justified in a recession and whether modernist beach houses should be preserved. I think you know which side of the argument I come down on but I'm interested to hear what you think. If you had the means to undertake such an endeavour, would you do it?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Floating a Beach House


Well this certainly puts my attempts at restoration into perspective. Imagine the amount of money and the stress for the architect and new owners as the Robert Venturi designed 1969 Lieb House is hoisted from its home on the Jersey Shore, placed on a barge and floated up the East River, around the North Shore of Long Island to Glen Cove, where it will eventually be used as a guest cottage to another Venturi house. All this being dependent on the City of Glen Cove giving the project a permit. At the moment the iconic beach house is stuck in a parking lot. For shame. If it gets the go-ahead I'm going to cheer it as it sails in. Go Lieb House!
The NY Times has a story on the move here. Further background, plus a video of the initial stages of the move, here and from Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates here.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Leisurama Now


While Jake Gorst was over at The Cool House I got him to sign my copy of Leisurama Now: The Beach House for Everyone 1964- that had arrived the previous day. The book by graphic designer Paul Sahre, is a comprehensive look at the Leisurama phenomenon, which for Sahre began the day he started looking for a summer rental on Long Island and wound up at Culloden Shores at Montauk where some 200 Leisurama homes form a beach community.
Gorst, who wrote, directed and produced Leisurama - A documentary, contributed a chapter to Leisurama Now on the architect Andrew Geller who, as a designer for the firm Raymond Loewy Associates, was responsible for making the Leisurama homes both appealing and easily mass-produced.


The mid-century prefabricated homes were sold by Macy's and came complete with a murphy bed, lamps, color-coordinated linens and even a toothbrush. Sadly the one thing Paul Sahre failed to find as he researched his book was an authentic Leisurama toothbrush, but everything else is photographed and documented in the book, which is a nostalgic snapshot of part of the American dream - owning a second home at the beach.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Beach Zen


There are lots of reasons I like to go and stay with our friends at the Jersey Shore but one I know Beach House readers will appreciate is Betty's garden. It's actually a series of vistas executed in a beachy zen way that is and, once she has planted it up each summer, very low maintenance.


There is no lawn to take care of, instead stepping stones embedded in swathes of pea gravel lead you from sitting area to pond, from shady tree to pergola and to the wide hammock beyond.


Each area has some sort of water feature: a pond, a waterfall, or fountains in stone and copper; and there's art to look at too: sculptures, driftwood, even a painting and a mirror almost hidden within the climbing plants.


On the upstairs deck outdoor curtains filter the light and keep the house cool.


It's an oasis of calm and beauty, the perfect getaway for stressed city types.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Eric Carle: author, designer, renovator


From The New York Times via apartment therapy, Eric Carle's gorgeously renovated modern beach house in the Florida Keys. Who knew the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar was so multi-talented? I love the combination of the warm wood with the sleek concrete and steel. And, of course, the view.
My kind of Florida retreat.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Beach House?


Maybe I'm writing this blog under false pretences. After we signed the contract but before we moved into this house we used to go down to "our" beach, the one we are deeded to, to check out the views and pinch ourselves that we could have ended up in such a perfect spot. Then while we moved in and we were in the thick of opening boxes and cleaning up we walked down every evening to relax. After that we went regularly a couple of nights a week to enjoy the sunsets and most early mornings to walk the dogs.
Last summer we went a few nights for the sunsets and to most of the events held at the beach: lobster bake, bbq etc. We walked the dogs on the beach in the winter when it was mild enough.
This year we have been zero times. Zero. I can't believe it. No sunsets, no bbq, no lobster. We've hardly taken the dogs down there either. Halfway through the summer and we haven't taken advantage of the natural beauty of the area or the facilities that we pay for. It's not like we have to drive to it or make any big effort. I'm not sure what the reason is but I'm certain of one thing: this won't do at all.