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Deeds and Dont's: Bring in ‘Da Funk

By: Heather Buchanan
Published: 7/15/2012Source: Hamptons Cottages & Gardens

What is it about the Hamptons that has made it such a bastion of experimental architecture? Perhaps being America’s playground somehow invites construction that tests the imagination.

Among the ranks of such celebrated architectural adventurers as Julian and Barbara Neski and Charles Gwathmey is the lesser known modernist architect Andrew Geller, whose projects ranged from the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center to the logo for Lord & Taylor. Geller created this 1960s weekend cottage in Bridgehampton (above) for Elizabeth Reese, head of public relations for Raymond Loewy, the industrial and design firm where Geller worked. The New York Times noted upon his death in 2011 that “Geller ?helped bring modernism to the masses” with his distinctive but modest vacation homes. The trapezoidal windows on the flat-topped A-frame were a nod to the abstract. They look like gills on a fish swimming on the five-acre property, where privacy was paramount, especially for nude sunbathing on the top deck. Listed for $1,595,000 with Corcoran Group Senior Vice President Cee Brown, this is the third home transformation by designer John Bjørnen and landscape designer Joseph Cornetta, who created a bright, open feel around a whitewashed stone hearth with a fully renovated kitchen, bathrooms, fixtures, and systems. “I’d loved this property and house for a ?long time,” says Bjørnen. “We wanted to breathe new life into the building and bring it up to date.” They also put in a heated gunite pool and a pool house with full bathroom and storage rooms. “You can fall in love with it as is or use this as a guest compound and create a new main residence elsewhere on the grounds,” Bjørnen says.

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