Reviving a bland mid-century ranch in Muttontown
The front Entry was relocated to the central space in the house, repurposing the existing Dining Room as a Foyer. This allowed the Family Room to become its own space.
The Entry Courtyard was designed by the architects as an asymmetrical courtyard, stepping away from the house in a series of rectangular forms. This created a pleasant interplay with the landscape, provided a setting for sculpture, and serve to center the approach from the circular driveway to the offset front Entry.
New York Bluestone was set in a random rectangular flagging pattern, to relate to the rectangular massing of the house architecturally. New York State Bluestone was selected for its multi-colorations, to complement the hand-moulded brick on the house.
The original Nassau Red brick was replaced with Glen Gery Trevanian hand moulded brick, because Nassau Red, in addition to being rather unattractive, is also unavailable. The new materiality, incorporating hand-moulded brick with grape vine joints, and blending in with the natural stone at the chimney, adds a richer, softer appearance in this naturally wooded setting.
The new masonry chimney on the end of the Family Room played an important part of the street-view architectural presence. It was surfaced primarily in natural stone, with the brick soldier course carrying across from the frieze details, and was capped with a Superior Clay Mathis Flue Cap in a Salt Glaze. A double soldier course of brick tops the tapered stone chimney.
Raised panels were detailed below the new windows, and a substantial frieze board, underscored by a brick soldier course, lends additional weight to the roof, emphasizing the horizontal lines.
The project team: Glen Grayson, AIA managing partner, Michael Vandrei, project architect; Oakwood Construction Corp., Bob Thornton. The renovation and expansion project was completed in 2006 on a rolling wooded site in Muttontown, NY.
Photo by Glen Grayson, AIA
Exterior