Yes, Darien, Connecticut, is somewhat out of the CH wheelhouse, but this place is so gorgeous—and features some of our favorite Hamptons architects and builders—we had to bring it to you. Designer Kristin Fine, along with husband Scott, owns the 1915 house on over six acres on the water in Darien. They hired New York- and East Hampton-based architect Michael Haverland to design a summer home for them on Surfside Drive in Bridgehampton; they also wanted to renovate and add on to their principal home in Darien, so Michael tackled that first, with Ben Krupinski as builder.
There are two ways to tackle an expansion of an old structure: one is to add on in the same style as the original, with the danger of the addition looking like a pastiche. The second is to add on in the best current architectural style, and that’s what Michael did here. The glass-and-steel structures added in 2015 to the house beautifully complement the 1915 original. They’re clad in natural stucco, similar in color to the original stucco on the house, with a contrasting smooth texture, for a subtle distinction between new and old.
A kitchen wing was added to one side of the house; a separate, open arbor creates an outdoor living room, framing the view of Long Island Sound. The arbor connects the house to a new yoga and pool house; with four kids and two dogs in the family, a separate building for quietening the mind is essential.
Michael approached the site as a campus. Architecturally, a campus style home is one with separate wings or buildings with differing functions, an idea rooted in vernacular homes. For example, some colonial homes featured a separate building for the kitchen, to avoid fire risk and to minimize smells. Michael says, "My approach to site planning is unique and comes from my 10 years of teaching urban design and planning at Yale and working on the Yale Campus Plan.
"Campuses evolve over time, as do family structures, use patterns and program. A smart design allows for future expansion and the next increments for the house and property as well. These additions were phase one of a larger master plan that includes a sports building with indoor lap pool, spa and indoor batting cage adjacent to the tennis court, as well as a residence for three artists.
"The Darien project began with an analytic process similar to that used for campus planning and urban design projects."
Michael and his team pondered which were the desirable views, to inform the position and design of windows and doors. The steel windows employed, with thin sight lines that extend to the ceiling, engage more light and sky and frame views, like the one to Manhattan.
What are the daily family use patterns? This is analogous to the way students use and move through a campus. Who uses what entrances? The family, staff, visitors? The use pattern analysis dictated the positioning of driveways, parking areas, and service areas and the location of the mudroom and the new stairs that connects all four floors closer to the new epicenter of the house.
In New Haven, the intersection of Chapel Street and Church Street is known as the "100 Percent Corner"—the most central commercial crossroads in town. Michael says, "The 100 percent corner equivalent in this house emerged from our analysis, so that the most active and intensely used parts of the house (the new kitchen with two master bathrooms above and the outdoor living room) are at the most valuable location."
One thing we particularly like about the design is the way that technical and practical constraints are embraced and considered, not ignored and hidden. This is a family home, so cars, the basketball court, and the trampoline are all OK. Drainage leaders create a decorative pattern that breaks up planes of stucco on the facades. They connect to rain gardens that absorb runoff before it reaches the Sound.
Speaking of water, according to Michael, "The design of the kitchen cabinet pulls are inspired by the shimmer of light and fluid patterns of the water, connecting the part to the whole." Notice how the kitchen sports four different kinds of cabinets (including brass--love) to break down the scale? Michael says, "The cabinets are varied, in the same way that varied façade design of different buildings enlivens a good street to avoid homogeneity."
Great job--and we can't wait to see what comes next.
- Waterfront House, Darien [Official]
- One House, Many Buildings [WSJ]
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