FEATURES

ACTOR ROY SCHEIDER AND HIS FAMILY SHARE AN UNPRETENTIOUS OCEANFRONT HOME IN SAGAPONACK

Prior to the construction of his oceanfront Sagaponack home in 1995, Roy Scheider delivered a straightforward, unvarnished mandate to his architect. "I didn't want it to look like some big damn actor's house," recalls the star of Jaws, explaining his vision for the shingle-style house he and his wife, documentary filmmaker Brenda Siemer, now occupy. "All I wanted was an industrial-strength beach house that could withstand wind and weather."

The couple knew Sagaponack well after renting a 600-square-foot bayman's cottage on the ocean. So, when an oceanfront property came up for sale, they jumped. Here, they were hoping to create a year-round family home, even though Roy still travels often for acting jobs. They also knew Faruk Yorgancioglu, a Turkish-born, Bridgehampton-based architect, though only socially.

"We met Faruk on a wonderful sailing trip he organized for a group of friends on the Aegean coast of Turkey," Brenda says. "At the time I said to myself, 'If this architect can design a house as well as he designed this trip, it would be a great place to live.'"

Faruk, who worked in New York after graduating from Yale School of Architecture, had designed buildings but never a house. After agreeing how important the unique light of Sagaponack was to the design of a home, they hired him.