The objective with this property, a 45,000sf area of land next to a bay in Long Island, was to provide for a new Garage, a new Pergola at the existing tennis court, and to unify the property with a singular landscaping effort.
Project Name: 144, Cove Site Works
Studio Name: Brian O’Brian Architect
Project Size: 45000 ft2
Completion Date: 2018
Location: Water Mill, NY, United States
Photography: Bob Gundu
Designed in conjunction with Toronto Landscape Designer, Joel Loblaw, Inc., the approach to the house is shifted to its western edge, allowing one to travel a portion of the property’s perimeter prior to making the slight descent towards the Garage.
The materials and form of the Garage draw from the materials and form of the original house, while making for a clean and crisp contrast. The interior is exposed, milled Cypress framing while the east wall and clerestory are a bronze-toned cellular polycarbonate. The mass of the Garage is given relief at its corner, which is eroded to provide access to the Garage and to the semi-distinct shed, while also providing a breezeway beneath the large hip roof.
The space between the House and the tennis court is treated as a raised lawn court bound by field stone and steel. This move gives the broad area of grass a sense of place within the property, and provides an edge on which the owners might sit in the sun. Adjacent to the lawn court, and travelling from the House to the tennis court, is a path composed of five-foot square bluestone pavers in a pea gravel bed.
The Pergola, anchoring the lawn court to the tennis court, then draws from the white trim and double columns of the house in its light white steel frame that emerges from a sculpted concrete base.
