This Stunning Suffolk County Home Brings a Modern Twist to a Historic Area

In the historic hamlet of Amagansett in Suffolk County, New York, is where you'll find the lovely “Lanes,” a set of pedestrian-friendly streets all within walking distance to the ocean.

Text by

Michele Koh Morollo

View 18 Photos

Although these lanes are lined with homes of various styles and forms, what makes this area unique is how the longitudinal aspect of the houses frequently extend from side to side within a given parcel, giving them a somewhat cramped appearance when seen from the street.

While the "Lanes" are home to multiple stunning properties, one in particular we can't get enough of is the three-level, 7,300-square-foot residence that New York-based firm MB Architecture recently worked on.

This house on the "Lanes" was designed with concrete foundational walls, charred siding, and VMZinc zinc roof.

The team decided to free up space on the sides of the parcel by positioning the narrower side of the house to face the street so that the south-facing length of the home could enjoy direct sunlight. This also created more distance between the house and neighboring properties.

The parent's bedroom is located at one end of the top floor.

The owners originally wanted a maintenance-free home, with interiors and exteriors that would be durable. Therefore, MB Architecture’s lead architects Maziar Behrooz and Bruce Engel chose materials that were hardy, free from delicate detailing, and ones that wouldn't require any refinishing over time.

They used raw concrete for the foundational walls, zinc for the roof, and charred cypress for the sidings and interiors. To ensure proper sealing, the windows and doors were pushed tight up to the forward plane of the clapboards.

Above is the hallway on the second level of the house.

Working with landscape designer Shep Butler, Behrooz and Engel created a meadow-like garden around the front yard, using a green buffer to provide the owners with plenty of privacy.

A view of the expansive lap pool leading up to the house.

The length of the exterior walls are clad in charred cypress, and the rich textural contrast between concrete and wood on the façade is repeated within the house.

Here you can see the garage behind the concrete wall.

The communal zones, as well as a guest bedroom, are located on the ground level. In the living room, a raw steel box inserted into one of the concrete walls serves as a storage system for the owners’ collection of vintage vinyl records.

The owners opted to use a raw steel box as a storage system for their collection of vintage vinyl records.

Above is a green Finnjuhl sofa and table at the fireplace, as well as pendants from Foscarini.

A guest bedroom is also located on the ground floor.

"A sunken courtyard on the south side of the house, and a generous light-well on the north break the flatness of the site, and allow light to be filtered into the lower level, transforming the basement into a well-lit family room with a private outdoor space," says Behrooz.

As you can see above, a rich textural contrast between concrete and wood on the façade is repeated throughout the interior of the house.

The owners also chose a suspension lamp by Fontana Arte to hang over the dining table.

Thanks to the innovative design, the residents can now enjoy a bright and elegant kitchen.

On the second level, a porch "cut-out" separates the master bedroom from the two children's bedrooms on the opposite end.

"The porch is entered through a south-facing sliding glass door that, together with the north-facing ribbon window, allow natural light to filter into the house and reflect down into the heart of the house via narrow slits and openings along the staircase and its concrete stair-wall," says Engel.