Shelter Island Retreat

Tags:: Architecture

Architect Cary Tamarkin designed his family's summer house for snoozing. “It lends itself to massive relaxing,” he says of the 2,800-square-foot cottage on Shelter Island overlooking Long Island Sound. “There's lots of napping, and big dinners on the teak tables out on the porch.”

Guest quarters with two bedrooms anchor the home at ground level. Above, a breezeway separates kitchen, dining and living areas from master suite and children’s bedrooms. “Every bedroom gets to sleep to the sound of the waves,” he said. Tamarkin, principal of New York architecture firm Tamarkin Co., used 100-year-old cypress salvaged from the swamps and rivers of Georgia and Florida for its skin and structure. A former shipbuilder crafted its 36-foot-long beams.

The design challenge, Cary said, was to respond to the forces of the site – its sounds, breezes, views and lighting. “It's all about outdoor living,” he explained. “It's small inside but it was meant to be that way.”

— J. Michael Welton

Architect and developer Cary Tamarkin designed and built his family’s summer home to face due southwest to capture prevailing breezes all summer long. Courtesy Architects and Artisans.

Photo by: Bart Michiels

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