After dreaming of having a home in the Hamptons for years, one woman finally decided to make it a reality. “I have a couple of close friends who have places out east, and I’ve always enjoyed visiting them there,” says the homeowner, who spent three decades living in Japan before returning to New York during the early years of the pandemic. After an extensive search, she finally found the perfect spot in Amagansett. “I wanted to be close to my friends, and also be in a place where I could avoid having to be in my car all the time,” she says.

Recently divorced, she wanted to create a place that expressed her personality. “I found myself living by myself for the first time in my life,” she explains. “I wanted to build a house that would be an escape from city life, as well as a place I could share with my friends and children.”

After reaching out to architect Robert Schultz, an old friend from college who now leads New York firm Khanna Schultz with Vrinda Khanna, the homeowner set out to design her ideal weekend home. “From the beginning, she had the desire to make the house as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible,” says Schultz.

The house needed to fit within narrow zoning restrictions on the lot, and accommodate two mature crepe myrtle trees which the owner and the designers loved. Setting the new home within the footprint of a previous structure on the property allowed the team to make the most of the site, as did keeping the existing swimming pool and much of the original landscaping. Throughout the design process, the goal was to use standard construction methods and materials whenever possible so as to devote a larger portion of the budget to building systems like a photovoltaic array and ground source heat pump that would make the home energy efficient.

$47,500 Site Work	$145,000 Foundation	$193,000 Framing, Envelope, & Insulation
$180,000 Siding, Trim, & Louvers	$114,500 Wall & Ceiling Finishes	$84,000 Flooring
$61,000 Roofing	$136,000 Electrical	$58,500 Plumbing
$118,700 Ground Source Heat Pump	$15,000 HVAC Miscellaneous	$65,000 Solar Power System
$135,000 Landscaping	$65,000 Lighting	$236,000 Windows & Glazing
$66,000 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures, Counters	$135,000 Cabinetry	$59,500 Doors & Millwork
$110,000 Tile, Stone, & Corian	$30,000 Metalwork	$40,000 Labor
$250,000 Furnishings & Decor	$41,000 Appliances	$9,500 Hardware
$5,000 Permitting	$300,000 Design Fee	$400,000 General Contractor Fee
$25,000 Demolition	$20,000 Waste/Debris Removal	$110,000 Custom Stairs
Grand Total: $3,255,200

“The benefit of building the house from the ground up is that we were able to work with consultants on things like the placement of the solar panels and the building envelope right from the beginning,” explains Veronica Patrick, design team member for Khanna Schultz. “It took careful planning to maximize the site for the green features.”

The project was also inspired by the client’s treasured collection of Japanese pottery, and her deep appreciation of Japanese design. “During the project, the homeowner gave us some small gifts from Japan, and it was fascinating to see how things were packaged,” explains Khanna. “There’s often several layers of boxes within boxes, and this house captures that quality of spaces that slowly reveal and conceal themselves, all in a precise fashion.”

The home’s exterior, clad in charred spruce siding, presents a reserved, somber face, while a series of wood slats screens a row of clerestory windows above the main entrance. “You pass over a small bridge as you enter the house from the outside,” explains Khanna Schultz project team member Navajeet Khatri. “Along with the slats on the windows, it presents this idea of a wrapped house, which helps create a mysterious experience from the front.”

Inside, the brightly lit rooms contrast with the dark exterior wrapper. The design team carefully considered the siting and orientation of windows to minimize solar heat gain. “The south face of the house is pretty much blank, so when you’re inside, you’re mostly getting soft, indirect light,” explains Patrick. “The result is that the main rooms do not heat up as drastically during the day.” Extensive sun tests on the property also led to the placement of solar panels on top of the garage to maximize exposure.

Large expanses of glass on the home’s north side make the rooms feel embedded in nature. “I love the corner in the living room where the wood ceiling appears to slip from inside to outside,” says Khanna. “I also love the dark screened porch off of the bright living room, and the lush green exterior beyond. It’s such a beautiful sequence of events.” In this way, each room offers a different framing of the lush natural landscape outside, creating a dialogue with nature that changes as one moves through the home.

“Something we are very proud of with this project is that, for a relatively small, compact house, it offers a number of different spatial experiences and feelings in relationship to the outdoors,” says Schultz. Complementing it all is the homeowner’s collection of art and ceramics, many of which she sourced during her time living in Japan. “Each piece has its own story, from potters I met in their home studios to galleries in Tokyo and Kyoto,” the homeowner explains. “They are objects I live with daily, and they are part of this house.”

The home’s careful siting along with its rooftop solar array, geothermal heating and cooling, and energy recovery ventilation system help it meet its energy needs. In fact, the homeowner was pleased to discover after moving into the home that it was actually producing more energy than it was using, resulting in a rebate from the local utility company for the surplus energy it was feeding into the grid. “She was excited to get immediate payback on the investment she made,” says Khanna.

To further maximize the budget and devote more resources to the energy performance systems, the designers incorporated compact, no-frill bedrooms on the upper floor. “The home was a balance between things that feel luxurious and things that feel pretty austere,” says Schultz. “That helped us keep the budget under control, especially when building in a high-cost environment like the Hamptons.”

Ultimately, the home feels like a sanctuary in nature—and it actually gives back to the environment in which it sits. “I love showing up to my house and opening all the shades to let the outside in,” says the homeowner. “I experience the seasons so closely. It’s a place of peace and quiet where I can be with those I love, surrounded by beauty inside and out.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record & Interior Design: Khanna Schultz / @khanna_schultz

Builder / General Contractor: Flanzer Construction

Structural & Civil Engineer: Dilandro Andrews Engineering PLLC

Landscape Design: Land Space Inc.

Photography: Eric Petschek / @cb

Photo styling: Katja Greeff / @katjagreeff

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Budget Breakdown: They Built a Net-Positive Home in the Hamptons for $3.2 Million