A Disjointed Midcentury Home in New York Gets a Cohesive Retrofit

Located on a 13-acre property filled with meadows and wetlands, this home was once a lackluster complex of three midcentury structures—until vonDalwig Architecture unified them with a carefully considered renovation.

The clients (who worked with the firm on a previous project) were looking for a place outside the city where they could enjoy meaningful family time and host gatherings with friends. When this property hit the the market, they jumped on it.

The home was renovated in 2009, however, the poorly planned retrofit felt disjointed. The update introduced a pool and extended the main house with an addition, however it "felt more like a detached limb than an integrated part of the house," explains architect Kit von Dalwig. The past renovation also did little to take advantage of the home’s beautiful natural surroundings.

One of the firm’s main goals for the project was to introduce better flow between the individual buildings, and to connect the exteriors with the interiors. "Our approach was to allow the parts—the buildings, the landscape, and the pool—to unfold and connect to the whole, both inside and out," shares von Dalwig.

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The firm reconfigured the floor plan and the exterior openings, placing the focus on forest views. An exterior pergola brings the pool and the guest studio into the fold while also establishing a fence to fulfill the town’s building code.

"Ultimately, I love the clarity we brought to the plan—and the visual and physical connections we achieved. In different parts of the house—both outside and inside—you now find subtle links and overlaps to other spaces and overall coherence that was not there before," von Dalwig says. While the overall transformation is impressive, the scene-stealing highlight is undoubtedly the serene Japanese ofuro soaking tub, made from hinoki-like Port Orford Cedar.

More from vonDalwig Architecture:

A Radiant Renovation Brightens Up a Dark Brooklyn Brownstone

Project Credits: 

Architect of Record: vonDalwig Architecture / @vondalwig

Builder/General Contractor: Pound Ridge Construction

Landscape Design: Kimberly von Koontz & Nick Cambareri

Cabinetry Design/Installation: ARKA / Lev Radunsky