LONG ISLAND

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Long Island ARCHI Award / 2025

NEW CONSTRUCTION – RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY

(Over $3 Million) 

The building is composed with calm rationality, with the plan geometry turning at right angles , stepping down in height, with a form that gradually lightens as it moves toward the water.  Massing is carefully arranged: the living spaces open outward to embrace the view and changing light, while the more enclosed bedroom and private wing shift back to form a sheltered arrival court.

The design draws subtle references from a dilapidated and abandoned mid-century house that previously stood on the site for many years, echoing the horizontal lines and extended overhangs of early American modernism. These roof planes provide generous shade and protection from the elements, while mediating transitions between interior and exterior.  It aims for timelessness over novelty, clarity over complexity.

The building incorporates a number of active and passive sustainable technologies in a discreet and integrated manner. A rooftop array of photovoltaic panels supplies on-site renewable energy alongside sedum roofs, while a state-of-the-art closed loop geothermal heating and cooling system ensures year-round comfort with efficiency. An advanced insulation package, and extremely efficient glazing further reduce the project’s energy requirements.

Materials have been chosen for their durability and natural character, assembled with care and restraint. Detailing is precise with an emphasis on craftsmanship, rhythm, texture, and longevity.

The site, which transitions from forest and meadow to coastal wetlands was restored and further developed utilizing only native, drought tolerant vegetation found in the vicinity.

Forest Edge seeks to provide a peaceful family retreat while celebrating its landscape and surroundings.

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Long Island ARCHI Award / 2025

Commendation 

NEW CONSTRUCTION – RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY

(Over $3 Million) 

When first purchased, this long narrow ocean front property was full of dying non-native vegetation. At the end sat a leaky house and an oversized pool perched on the brink of an eroding beach. After many back and forths, we were able to convince the owner to remove the existing pool and house and embark on a major dune restoration. The area where house and pool once existed was filled with sand, native grasses, and shrubs. The new house and much smaller pool were designed landward of the coastal erosion line, with a long winding driveway surrounded by native salt tolerant trees and shrubs leading up to them.

Moving the house back presented a challenge in terms of privacy from neighbors. This along with the narrowness of the lot eventually resulted in a strong L scheme. The short leg of the L is the main family wing; the entry is introduced on the north side. Once inside the doors the southern water view and light come pouring in through big operable doors. The level is for living and eating, both indoors and out. Upstairs more views are possible through family bedrooms and extended upper balconies. The long leg of the L both guides the visitor up to the front entry on its west side, with additional rooms and program that takes advantage of the open western view. The eastern side acts as a shield to the most imposing neighbor, employing a playful rhythm of panels that define the grid the house is built on.

Durable sapele siding envelopes the house, good in the salt air with its abrasive sand spray. Since the house is situated in a flood zone, the lower level with its breakaway slabs and walls is the perfect place for parking and storage.

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Long Island ARCHI Award / 2025

Historic Restoration / Adaptive Re-Use

Norman Jaffe, an incredibly talented  architect, with a sometimes cult like local following, designed houses throughout the east end of long island starting in 1968 until his death in 1993. He was infatuated with the play of light, its healing powers, and a master at incorporating it into his architecture. He once wrote, ”The light meets the wall, the wall knows the light… the wall delights in the light.”

Clients approached us to help identify a property for their growing family. The Hillman house, designed in 1977, located on an inlet harbor with miles of unspoiled wetlands, within a more rural setting than much of the east end, had just come on the market. We assured them we could carefully restore and add on to the existing house, celebrate its simple and honest beauty, while modifying what was needed to fit their needs and lifestyle.

The existing state of the house called for a complete gut renovation. Mold and insects had taken their toll. We used this opportunity to carefully streamline the interior details and materials to follow Jaffe’s celebration of light and simplicity. A flat roof addition pierces the east side, allowing the space needed to redesign and enlarge the kitchen and add a much-needed screened dining porch. The upstairs primary bedroom was redesigned as a family room, and the existing bedrooms were carefully reconsidered to allow for en-suite bathrooms. An addition consisting of the main bedrooms, family room and gym; quiet and supportive of the main house, was added to the west. A swimming pool, clad in the same stone as the original house was added as well as a complete restoration of the native wetland vegetation. The furnishings, lighting and art all were selected as both a celebration of the past with an eye towards the future.

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Long Island ARCHI Award / 2025

Hospitality

The Sunset Cottages / Montauk

The east end of Long Island has attracted day trippers and pleasure seekers for ages. Montauk in particular has been sought out for its raw natural beauty with high bluffs and expansive waterviews. Early development has continued to expand to take advantage of an area that was once slated to become the Poconos of the east. Much of it has unfortunately destroyed the very landscape and natural lushness that the area is known for.

Perched up on a bluff, the site where the Sunset Cottages sit today, had previously been stripped of all natural vegetation to accommodate four rentable trailer houses that had no relationship to the areas history let alone, the beauty the site afforded. Our mission was to recreate a lush and ecologically relevant native landscape with the help of landscape architects, and to nestle four new cottages within it to take advantage of the immediate water view. Designed as simple structures, the four cottages share the same floor plan, shifted and staggered to follow the sites topography creating privacy and generous sight lines in the making.

Each cottage has a living area, bathroom and sleeping quarters. There is an outdoor shower and a small stainless steel spa in each exterior deck. Generous overhangs offer protection from the sun and weather. The units are clad in clear shingle siding, a nod to cottages of old and meant to weather over time. Floor-to-ceiling glass and aluminum sliding doors give each unit a more expansive feeling.

From the street, it is hard to discern that the structures are even there. The landscape prevails as the primary visual. Individual winding paths end up at each respective cottage. While separate, the opportunity for congregation happens on the open site below with unobstructed views of the pond and, on lucky evenings, the sunset.

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STELLE LOMONT ROUHANI ARCHITECTS

48 Foster Ave, Bridgehampton, NY 11932

www.stelleco.com

631 – 537 – 0019

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