FEATURES

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The couple's protracted search for the right property ended when they purchased a prime piece of real estate with expansive vistas and proximity to the beach. Self-taught architecture experts, the duo was smitten by the houses of the Montauk Association—a collective of quintessential beach cottages created by the noted architecture firm McKim, Mead and White in the early 1900s. And while they loved the perfect scale and proportion of the historic residences, the future homeowners knew the size of those early homes would never accommodate a steady flow of visiting parents, children, grandchildren and friends. They turned to architect Sam Mitchell to craft a solution that included adequate room but "no double-height ceilings or wasted cavernous spaces," as well as a structure that honored its environment. "Our property is close to the ocean and we didn't want our house to impose itself on Sagaponack. Aesthetically, we wanted it to sit there quietly," says the owner.

Mitchell took his cues for massing the nearly 6,000-square-foot structure from the landscape. "The long, low horizontal lines of the porch along with the eaves of the roof echo the surrounding ocean, dunes and potato fields that reach out to the east and west in front of the house, as far as the eye can see," says the architect. Mitchell added layers of texture to the exterior by contrasting painted clapboard with weathered shingles in a variety of decorative patterns. "We weren't trying to duplicate an 1890s house. The house and the people who live in it belong to the current century, and we wanted the spaces to flow and be appropriate for a modern family."

Inside, the structure is two rooms wide. The southern spaces face the ocean where they capture the sunlight that flows through to the north side rooms. Unlike its turn-of-the-century cottage inspiration, the windows are larger and the floor plan much more open. "I relied on the interior details to link the spaces together," says Mitchell, noting that the interior designer complemented his efforts. "If Marshall had decorated in a more traditional manner, it would have gone flat.