You might expect the Hamptons home of a couple in which one is an architect who’s worked with Calvin Klein, taught at Yale, and been featured in Architectural Digest, and the other is an etiquette columnist for The New York Times, an author, a lawyer and, just for good measure, also an interior designer, to be pretty much perfect. And it is. That’s why it was once included on the Museum of Modern Art’s tour of iconic houses in East Hampton, N.Y., along with buildings by such East End giants as Charles Gwathmey, Richard Meier, and Norman Jaffe.
Nonetheless, owners Michael Haverland, the architect, and Philip Galanes, the etiquette columnist, have decided to move on to a new challenge and have put their spectacular home on the market at $4.95 million with Cee Scott Brown at Compass. Set on just under an acre of land — a coveted flag lot, the property includes a roughly 3,800-square-foot main house with three bedrooms and two and a half baths. There’s also a pool house alongside the lap pool, a necessity in the Hamptons, and a 600-square-foot studio and garage.
“The program was a simple glass box to house our furniture collection, one that is modern but timeless, warm, comfortable and not trendy or minimal/sterile,” says Haverland. “In the tradition of great modern houses, it is one story to use as much architecture as possible to define outdoor spaces and rooms and engage light, air and nature from every room.
“The site plan challenges the suburban typology of the house as an object in the middle of a lot with a conventional front and back yard. The house is pushed back to an adjacent six-acre reserve, which creates a large open space/manicured oasis defined by stucco walls that run indoors and out to create a through-line for the architectural planes of the house and garden. The garage, free-standing pool house, patio, and art and work sheds were pulled apart from the house and organized around the property to screen neighbors and define specific outdoor spaces.”
One of the more interesting details about this house is that while filled with midcentury design classics — furniture, artwork, lighting — it also boasts antique and salvaged vintage items. Says Haverland, “Every detail was considered and every materials and fixture is authentic — real stucco, actual vintage tubs and sinks, hardware from 1900, unlacquered brass faucets, push-button antique style switches. We call it ‘Survival Style.’”
Haverland’s favorite part of the house are the windows. He explains, “The thin steel windows use a historic factory window profile but enlarge the pane size as much as possible to allow light and engage nature while simultaneously creating a sense of enclosure for coziness all year round. The proportion of the panes is the same as windows in historic Hamptons Shingle style houses.
“There is complex engineering behind the steel windows to keep the mullions as thin as possible. I push and test engineering and fabrication techniques along with design elements in all of my projects. I love steel windows for their finesse, texture and refinement. They are a class above aluminum sliders which so many architects use — they are commercial, cold and sterile, in my view.“
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Image Credit: Compass -
Image Credit: Compass In the outdoor dining pavilion, a classic table and chairs designed by Richard Schultz for Knoll in 1966.
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Image Credit: Compass One of the many Fornasetti pieces dotted throughout the home include this Citta di Carte screen in the airy and grandly proportioned living room.
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Image Credit: Compass The dining room is demarcated by freestanding panels inspired by Jean Prouvé.
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Image Credit: Compass Classic carpets and brass chandeliers mesh nicely with midcentury furniture icons, such as the Nakashima table.
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Image Credit: Compass Haverland says his ideal buyer would be “someone with exquisite taste who understands that the house is a work of art but very livable at the same time and who appreciates the timeless quality, character patina and details. Most of my clients are fashion- and art-world figures and I can imagine someone with that profile loving it as much as we do.”
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Image Credit: Compass So, what’s with the decoupage birds in the kitchen? “We wanted an original design for the kitchen that also connects to the property. There are birds outside the 12-1/2 foot windows in the kitchen as part of the natural landscape and reserve,” says Haverland. “We selected these specific birds because of their great colors, high quality rendering, warm background color and variety. We also played with the scale to provide more texture to the overall pattern—our favorites are large and respond to the scale of the room and they vary in size down to tiny birds marching in line across the utensil drawers at the scale of a spoon. It is still a treat to look at them every day as each one is a work of art!”
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Image Credit: Compass A Fornasetti umbrella stand and a midcentury rope table lamp by Audoux Minet add design gravitas to the office.
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Image Credit: Compass Of course there’s a cozy Eames lounge chair in this office space, though it’s playfully been upholstered in bubble gum-pink leather.
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Image Credit: Compass Haverland says he will miss the house, but “Philip and I look forward to collaborating on another terrific project! We love the process.”