Designer Lauren Rottet Thinks Outside the Box to Renovate Her Montauk Retreat

Completed in 1962 for Rudolph and Ethel Johnson, this impressive Modernist home was one of only a handful of residences designed by George Nelson and architect Gordon Chadwick, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1989, the Johnsons’ son, Richard, learned that his childhood home was up for sale to owners who wouldn’t keep the original design, so he built a near-perfect replica (minus the breezeway) on an adjacent lot, using Chadwick’s drawings and specs. He later sold the home to architectural designer Lauren Rotett in 2012.