Architects Oza Sabbeth harnessed the power of wood in a Montauk house they designed for a client seeking a full-time home that would also act as a 'restorative retreat'. The new house is an expanded, elevated version of the region's typical 'sea shack' (Montauk is famed for its beach escapes), using swathes of wood surfaces and textures and a simple yet generous, L-shaped footprint.
Montauk House by Oza Sabbeth
The architects were interested in 'having a place that could facilitate their shared and near-daily surfing habit, lots of protection from direct sunlight, efficient home office space, ample guest rooms for hosting their vibrant social life, and a sense of retreat from the busy road nearby,' the architects write.
The result is an elegant, unassuming residence with a long façade towards the vistas and a discreet presence on the street. The composition features two volumes, one with a shed-like lower roof and one with a barn-like higher one.
The main living area is a lofty, open space under the taller roof, uniting seating, dining and kitchen areas. Everything is wrapped in natural timber, a material well known for its positive effect on wellness, as well as glazing that opens the interior up to the green outdoors.
Timber features everywhere, the team explains: there's 'structural lumber for the exposed beams; plywood for the ceiling; and rough-hewn maple for the columns. That decision was partially driven by aesthetics – the clients thought of the place as a beach house – and partially by emotions, as they wanted the home to have the cosy feeling of a warm cabin.'
-
Los Angeles’ best fine-dining restaurantsLA boasts a creative food scene driven by some of the world’s most innovative chefs. Browse the Wallpaper* guide to the city’s best fine-dining restaurants
-
First look at Maison 3, an eclectic new Parisian bar for sleepless nightsMaison 3 is an enigmatic space with a sensual atmosphere brought to life by the French studio Les Beaux Jours Architectures
-
Chanel heads to Hangzhou, China for a poetic Métiers d’Art 2025 showThis evening in China (3 December 2024), Chanel travelled to Hangzhou’s much-mythologised West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage site, for a show that highlighted the extraordinary craft of the house’s artisans
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Step inside a Brooklyn Brownstone that bridges old and new'Brooklyn Brownstone' has been refreshed by Jon Powell Architects (JPA) and the result is a contemporary design rooted in modern elegance
-
The new Frederic Church Center at Olana complements its leafy Upstate New York siteTour the Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape, now open at Olana, a historic site in Upstate New York, courtesy of architecture studio ARO
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside livingUnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
This New York brownstone was transformed through the power of a single, clever moveVoid House, a New York brownstone reimagined by architecture studio Light and Air, is an interior transformed through the power of one smart move
-
A new Texas house transforms a sloping plot into a multi-layered family homeThe Griggs Residence is a Texas house that shields its interior world and spacious terraces with a stone and steel façade
-
Light, nature and modernist architecture: welcome to the reimagined Longwood GardensLongwood Gardens and its modernist Roberto Burle Marx-designed greenhouse get a makeover by Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hildebrand in the US
-
A bridge in Buffalo heralds a new era for the city's LaSalle ParkA new Buffalo bridge offers pedestrian access over busy traffic for the local community, courtesy of schlaich bergermann partner
