An Undulating Roof Flows Across the Barn-Like Modules of a Striking Long Island Home

A triangular courtyard nestles at the center of Six Square House by Young Projects, which features a dynamic, swooping roofline.

Text by

Melissa Dalton

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Dwell

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For this project in Bridgehampton, New York, local firm Young Projects wanted to combine a little something old with a little something new. The architects, who wanted the main residence to sit in contrast with the property’s existing 1850 farmhouse, "started with the simple vernacular typology of a barn," says Bryan Young, founder and co-principal of the firm.

Photo: Alan Tansey

As its name implies, Six Square House comprises six 24-by-24-foot modules, the body of each recalling that traditional barn shape. Each unit roughly corresponds to a different function. The kitchen, living room, and mud room are spread over two squares. The bedrooms and family room take up another two squares, and a patio and garage occupy the remaining two.

Photo: Alan Tansey

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Photo: Alan Tansey

Five of the squares—all except the garage—are arranged around a triangular courtyard and connected at the roofline, making for a dynamic presentation. It’s "a hybrid roof-scape which combines aligned roof ridges and curving eaves," says the firm, who then wrapped everything in the same material for continuity: a charred, stained, and sealed Accoya rain screen. The interior of the covered patio is Western red cedar.

"These are durable and low-maintenance engineered woods that play off of the farmhouse’s historic cedar facade while reading as distinctly contemporary," says the firm.

Photo: Alan Tansey

As dark as the exterior materials are, the interiors are kept light with white plaster walls and ceilings, white oak millwork, and marble countertops. "Materials are generally composed in a way that reads as textural variations on a tight color palette rather than high-contrast or loud materials," says partner Noah Marciniak. Connections between the modules make for swooping ceiling planes inside.

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Large windows everywhere frame views of the two-acre site, from the gnarled trees that foster privacy in the bedrooms, to the living and kitchen windows that capture the intermediate courtyard, to the covered outdoor room, which in itself works as a framing device. "On one hand, the design of the house is governed by its own geometric logic," says Young. "On the other, the design reframes and connects back to the overall site."

Photo: Alan Tansey