Ring Neck Road, Remsenburg, NY

Inspired by a stay at Hegia, an 18th-century French farmhouse turned bed-and-breakfast in the Pyrenees, the clients sought to recreate its blend of rustic character and minimalist design. They enlisted longtime collaborator Francis D’Haene of D’Apostrophe Design to renovate their 23-year-old barn-style home in Remsenburg, New York, a weekend retreat for a family of five.

Clad in reclaimed siding from a 200-year-old Canadian barn, the weathered, silvery exterior contrasts with the home’s clean, geometric interior. The original structure was stripped to its framework and completely reconfigured. A once low-ceilinged, compartmentalized interior was replaced with a double-height central volume flanked by two symmetrical wings separated by a folded staircase with solid balustrades.  A new pool house and expanded garage, both cast in board-formed concrete, echo the home’s simple, elemental forms. 

The interior palette is restrained yet rich in flavor: hand-hewn oak beams, wide-plank Douglas fir floors, a blackened steel fireplace and dark bronze window frames. Furnishings are sculptural and minimal: low-slung sofas by Living Divani, vintage Allan Gould chairs, Tom Dixon pendants, and Hans J. Wegner Wishbone chairs around a custom walnut banquette and table designed by D’Apostrophe and crafted by Townsend Design. The all white kitchen looks out onto a 70 foot infinity pool and the landscape and Zen garden created by John Beitel.

The exterior of the facade is made out of cedar planks salvage from an almost two centuries older barn.
In the double-height living area, the sofas are by Living Divani, the chairs and matching table are vintage Allan Gould, and the paintings are by Alberto Di Fabio.
Vintage Moroccan rugs anchor a Piero Lissoni sectional.
On all but the front facade and the connectors retain their original mullioned windows.
Aluminum framed side doors open to a concrete terrace and steps down to the garden.
The original chimney received a skim coat of concrete.
Dinesen wide-plank Douglas-fir floorboards complement the pristine architecture.
In the dining area, Tom Dixon pendant lamps are grouped with Han j. Wegner chairs from Carl Hansen and a custom made table by Townsend Design.
In the boys bedroom, Castor Design made the pendant fixture from recycles fluorescent tubes.
In the master suite, a Marcel Wanders tub sits on slabs of Belgian bluestone.
The facade is half cedar half concrete patterned with horizontal framework that simultaneously reflects and contrasts with the barn's silvery verticals.

Photography by William Waldron, Gregory Holm