Location: Shelter Island, New York
Project size: 6,000 square feet

Program: Beyond fixing up an old 1980s house, this renovation was about creating an enduring gathering place for a large, multigenerational family to reunite each summer. With gatherings regularly exceeding 20 people, the home needed to host celebrations while offering smaller family units room to retreat. The design reorganizes the house into three two-story volumes, each with its own stair and bathrooms, balancing togetherness with privacy. At grade, sliding panels dissolve boundaries between interior living spaces, gardens, patios, and the waterfront. The result is a landscape of distinct zones—quiet and lively, bright and shaded—ensuring that summer traditions remain a cherished ritual for generations to come.

Design Solution: The Shelter Island Remodel reimagines a sprawling 1980s waterfront home whose piecemeal additions had left it structurally compromised and ill-suited to contemporary life. Rather than demolish, the renovation extends the home’s life—transforming it into a sustainable, resilient, multigenerational retreat.

The project begins with the fundamentals: strengthening structure, upgrading insulation, and improving building systems to withstand coastal storms and the long-term challenges of climate change. Interior circulation is reorganized around the kitchen as the home’s true center, now linked to a new north-side patio and pool. A corridor with an open-riser stair reinforces a dramatic land-to-water axis while discreetly housing storage for island living. The failing enclosed pool room is reborn as a light-filled screen porch with large operable panels that dissolve the boundary between indoors and out. Inside, white oak detailing unifies the living spaces while colorful tiles and fabrics celebrate family life. A new brise-soleil tempers summer sun and draws in winter light. Together, these interventions extend the home’s life by 50 years or more, demonstrating a compelling alternative to demolition.

Structure and Materials: The existing 2-by-4 wood-framed structure relied on cost-effective insulating boards in place of modern engineered sheathing. The renovation addressed this through added furring, framing, and sheathing, while a robust steel-framed brise-soleil along the south facade acts as a structural buttress, strengthening the building’s resilience against future storms. Existing board-and-batten exterior cedar siding was refinished or replaced throughout. Inside, hardwearing, warm materials ground the kitchen, living, entry, and sunroom spaces, while softer palettes and layers of color bring intimacy to bedrooms, bathrooms, and private retreats, creating a home that is both durable and deeply livable.

Additional Information
Completion date: May 2025
Site size: 1 acre
Total construction cost: $3 million
Client/Owner: Withheld