Project: Antler House Restoration
Architects: Two Street Studio
General Contractor: Robert Christensen
Location: Long Island, New York
Area: 1,100 sf
Photography: Ashok Sinha
The joyous, playful and wildly creative vacation homes designed by Andrew Geller on Long Island are only now coming into due appreciation. The Antler House, built in The Springs of East Hampton in 1968, was perhaps his most whimsical. Over the years, new owners replaced original quirks with standard building features, and tacked on pragmatic additions. Our clients fell in love with this “wooden spaceship in the forest” and commissioned us to restore it to its former glory, plus a few modern comforts. With original drawings in hand, we happily obliged.
Although much of the project is characterized more by additions removed and original materials replaced, our contribution to the Antler House can be found in the addition of the raised deck. (Geller dashed in a “future deck” in his plans). Placed on the more private East facade, we borrowed a triangle for the deck’s stair and used an original handrail detail extruded down to screen the vacation home toys. The restoration features meticulous recreations of Geller’s original “owl-eye” and replacement of all invasive gypsum board with fragrant #2 cedar. We removed an ill conceived bathroom addition from the West facade facing Neck Path, and replaced it by reconfiguring the original first floor bathroom into two full baths.
A conservationist at heart, Geller believed that no house should occupy more than 20% of the site, and the 1,100 sf Antler House sits on a 1.05 acre lot. In a neighborhood replete with trophy homes, we are proud and grateful for clients with the vision to restore this quirky mid-century gem that most buyers in the Hamptons would have razed.
