Shingle Style Home on the East End

For a grand scale shingle style house in Watermill, Long Island owned by Caroline Hirsch of comedy club fame, our penchant for spareness was challenged by the obvious need for a sense of fullness in the rooms.

East Hampton architect Francis Fleetwood, who built the house, had endowed it with aspects derived from late-19th century sources: porches, facades, fireplaces, shingles and wood paneling. Yet the finished house evokes a late twentieth century simplicity. With furnishings we endeavored to strike a balance between old-fashioned comfort and warmth and modern details.

Fleetwood’s design is notable for its many windows–and window seats–giving the house an extraordinary lightness. Therefore we were able to place rather deeply colored, rich furniture in it–Shaker and Mission pieces; Arts and Crafts era antiques; fin de siecle Austrian elements. The result is a house that is welcoming to its many summer guests, yet cozily suited to romantic winter weekends for two.