This modest gem of an East Hamptons home is located in Barnes Landing in Suffolk County, New York State. Offering two beds and two baths, the 1,352 sq ft house was designed by Bates Masi + Architects and built in 2005.
The firm, originally founded by Harry Bates in New York in the 1960s, moved out to Southampton in 1980 to focus on contemporary Long Island homes. In 1998, Bates was joined by the young Paul Masi to form Bates Masi + Architects, which continues to practice in the area.
The garden at 131 Windward
The house is set in 0.61 acres of private gardens
Tour this Hamptons home for sale
Bates, who died in 2022 at the age of 95, had worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill before setting out on his own. His work can be found across the Hamptons and Fire Island, designed for a new generation of aesthetically minded clients who wanted chic modernist fiefdoms to escape to from their Madison Avenue offices. The firm’s other projects include historic conversions, hotels and schools, as well as furniture.
131 Windward is a late period house that bears the imprint of Frank Lloyd Wright and Japanese architecture, just as much as the contemporary image of beachside Hamptons retreats that still shapes the area today.
The main living space with a galleried landing above
With an open floor plan based around a large galleried living space, the steel-framed house is infilled with timber panels, with the latter exposed to create a warm, welcoming interior that showcases the craft and skill of the builder. Large windows are paired with high level clerestory windows, with the former highlighting the generous and private 0.61-acre plot, surrounded by a screen of trees.
The house started life as the guest house to another Harry Bates design, commissioned by a writer who also wanted a nearby place to work. Eventually both houses were sold as standalone houses, with 131 Windward now leaving the hands of its third set of owners.
One of the modest sleeping areas in the house
The agents emphasise the importance of the play of light around the house, and how it changes throughout the day. Combined with the stripped-back decor and open-plan living arrangements, it suggests a future as a tantalising and inspirational creative bolthole close to one of the famous coastlines in the world.
131 Windward, Long Island, Bates Masi + Architects
131 Windward is for sale at $2,995,000 via Rebekah C Baker of Sotheby's International Realty - East Hampton Brokerage, SothebysRealty.com, 131Windward.com, BatesMasi.com