Reduce Virtual - Photos & Ideas

This new 1,700 sf two-story single family residence for a young couple required a minimum of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, packaged to fit unobtrusively in an older low-key residential neighborhood. The house is located on a small non-conforming lot. In order to get the maximum out of this small footprint, we virtually eliminated areas such as hallways to capture as much living space. We made the house feel larger by giving the ground floor higher ceilings, provided ample natural lighting, captured elongated sight lines out of view windows, and used outdoor areas as extended living spaces. To help the building be a “good neighbor,” we set back the house on the lot to minimize visual volume, creating a friendly, social semi-public front porch. We designed with multiple step-back levels to create an intimacy in scale. The garage is on one level, the main house is on another higher level. The upper floor is set back even further to reduce visual impact. By designing a single car garage with exterior tandem parking, we minimized the amount of yard space taken up with parking. The landscaping and permeable cobblestone walkway up to the house serves double duty as part of the city required parking space. The final building solution incorporated a variety of significant cost saving features, including a floor plan that made the most of the natural topography of the site and allowed access to utilities’ crawl spaces. We avoided expensive excavation by using slab on grade at the ground floor. Retaining walls also doubled as building walls.

Water Mill House

DHD Architecture and Interior Design

The Watermill House is a beautiful example of a classic Hamptons wood shingle style home. The design and renovation would maintain the character of the exterior while transforming the interiors to create an open and airy getaway for a busy and active family. The house comfortably sits within its one acre lot surrounded by tall hedges, old growth trees, and beautiful hydrangeas. The landscape influenced the design approach of the main floor interiors. Walls were removed and the kitchen was relocated to the front of the house to create an open plan for better flow and views to both the front and rear yards. The kitchen was designed to be both practical and beautiful. The u-shape design features modern appliances, white cabinetry and Corian countertops, and is anchored by a beautiful island with a knife-edge marble countertop. The island and the dining room table create a strong axis to the living room at the rear of the house. To further strengthen the connection to the outdoor decks and pool area of the rear yard, a full height sliding glass window system was installed. The clean lines and modern profiles of the window frames create unobstructed views and virtually remove the barrier between the interior and exterior spaces. The open plan allowed a new sitting area to be created between the dining room and stair. A screen, comprised of vertical fins, allows for a degree of openness, while creating enough separation to make the sitting area feel comfortable and nestled in its own area. The stair at the entry of the house was redesigned to match the new elegant and sophisticated spaces connected to it. New treads were installed to articulate and contrast the soft palette of finishes of the floors, walls, and ceilings. The new metal and glass handrail was intended to reduce visual noise and create subtle reflections of light. Photo by Guillaume Gaudet

Water Mill House

DHD Architecture and Interior Design

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