Architect Designs a Dream Home Into a Cliff Above the Ocean (House Tour)

If you've got an arga cooker in your kitchen, it really gives heart and soul to your house. Being on the coast in New York is. Quite a demanding environment. It's actually quite brutal. The seasonality of it is very intense, and you really feel all of the different seasons and different days. My name is Mark Pulevans. I'm one of the principals at Toyota, and this is Montauk. Montauk forms part of the Hamptons, which is a string of seaside towns in Long Island. Where the Hamptons are generally quite highbrow, Montauk's a slightly different animal in that it's more of a surf town, a bit more casual, laid back. It's got a bit more of an attitude and an edge to it, which I quite like. Montauk is really a summer town, and ultimately the clients are looking for a beach house. They wanted something where they could have access to and enjoy the ocean, from and spend time in summer holidays with their family, and also to be able to entertain and enjoy the summer months. The owners introduced us to Raph. This was our first of what is now many projects of working together, and it's a very easy collaboration. We understand each other, we respect each other, and it's really effortless. Raph's role was to do the interior design, which was a high level of coordination between ourselves and, obviously, ensuring that the broader concepts were reinforced, and I think he did an excellent job. My name is Rafael De Cardenas. Our studio, which is also called Rafael De Cardenas, did the interior design for this project. We wanted the interiors to feel laid back and casual to some degree, but also we liked the idea that as you descend into the house, you're kind of opened up to this like almost jewel box. So, whilst the house is casual, it's probably not quite as casual as like your regular beach house. We did want to bring in some of that sophistication and the glamour of the city. There's probably no singular inspiration for this building. It's really a multitude of factors. It was certainly inspired by its place and location. We wanted to feel like it fit into Montauk and the character of the area. It needed to respect and respond to the landscape and views towards the ocean, and of course the owners wanted to create a certain feeling, and we felt. That through the use of these various elements, we were able to give them that. From the moment you come through the vehicular gates, you are looking over the home towards the ocean. There's something quite magical about a top-down entry home. I think the way that the gravity just instinctively pulls you through the home, and I think the intrigue of having seen the ocean on their arrival really heightens the experience and draws you down into the house. The upper level of the home contains the entrance hall and primary suites, along with the study. And that is consolidated into a very particular barn-like structure. Below that is a space that's defined by its transparency, which is the living area. The living, dining, and kitchen, and we've incorporated a number of subtle level changes to demarcate those spaces in what's quite a porous and fluid spatial arrangement of the floor plan. From the main living spaces, one accesses the outdoor elements. Which we have placed and used on half landings to break up the elevational changes of the building. And from the living areas, as you move externally towards the lower lawn, we've situated cabana on the half landing to break up that journey and that vertical differential. So the building was characterised by three primary elements: the barn-like structure at the top. The living level that is transparent, that allows access to the views, and the lowest level that is situated deep into the site. We characterize the identity of each of these areas and the spatial qualities of them distinctly. The barn-like structure is clad in a shusugiban, a koya shingle, which is burnt, crusty, and dark. Whereas the interior has a warmer blonde oak interior finish, and that has quite a powerful impact. The lowest level is clad in the cut face granite local stone, and that really helped anchor it into the site. Based on the footprint of the house, a lot of the furniture was designed by the studio to kind of fit this house specifically. And think that the rest of the smaller things, loose chairs and stools and things like that, accessories, art, ceramics were sort of selected as things that could live in the house and kind of give it further depth and also be a little child friendly. I think my favorite part of the project is this kind of stone wall that divides these two spaces on this main level, which is made of the same stone as the floor. Sort of creates this interesting backdrop for the sofa, whilst also separating this zone from the kitchen. So. You're living in this one space, and it is all one room. But there's this sort of serpentine stone wall that moves through and kind of changes the way that spaces function. I think the aspect of this project I'm most proud of was the colossal team effort that went into it. Owners who trusted and pushed us, not being local, we rely heavily on a collaboration with the local architects and Cooper Robertson were excellent in their execution of the project. Azure Hollander Design and the landscaping and Hobbs the general contractor, and of course Raff who took some of our early ideas and transformed them beyond what we had thought they were. When I'm at home, I want to slow down. I want to enjoy the flavors, the techniques, and the whole cooking process. And having all the features that Anaga can offer me really makes it such a joy. If you've got an Anaga cooker in your kitchen, it really gives heart and soul to your house. There's so much heritage. There's so many stories, and it's one of those appliances that are actually with you for your whole lifetime. It sort of becomes part of the family.