Families change. They grow up. And when that happens, the house in which the family grew up together often needs to adapt, both inside and out. Such was the case for the family who has occupied this East Hampton property for 25 years—and continuing. “Now that our children are young adults and my husband and I have the good fortune to have them all nearby and around a lot, we decided to change the way we entertain and how we gather,” says the homeowner.
While playtime for years meant going to a room above the garage to cue up a round of pool, it was time to up the game, so to speak. Interior designer Mark Cunningham, architect Michael Gilmore of Weddle Gilmore and landscape architect Michael Derrig of Landscape Details were commissioned by the clients to be the game changers. A dedicated party barn (and its attendant paved terraces), was designed to function as a place not only to shoot pool, but also play ping-pong, gather around a firepit, watch TV on two giant screens (one cleverly concealed by Cunningham in a window seat), and just talk and converse, perhaps the best form of adult playtime. “The idea was to create a little compound of ancillary buildings on the property,” says Cunningham, who fashioned the interiors of the new barn and also within a one-bedroom cottage.
“One of my favorite details of the barn,” says Cunningham, “was Michael (Gilmore’s) gigantic sliding doors that you can open so wide that the room becomes part of the outside.” The homeowner concurs, adding, “Both Mark and Michael understood exactly what to do and what we wanted. When the big barn door is open, as well as the three sets of French doors, you feel completely part of the outdoors. You forget you’re actually inside when the outside is so present.”
In the living room, four club chairs from MARKED are covered in an eye-catching striped fabric from Christopher Hyland.
The bedroom’s curtain fabrics are by Claremont and Calvin Fabrics. The desk is from Blu Dot.
The charming exterior is surrounded by verdant plantings.
An outdoor seating area features pared-down shapes and forms.
Chairs from Fermob surround a vintage French table in the outdoor dining area. The plates are from March.
The game area features a ping-pong table from Lumens and chairs from Design Within Reach.
The pergola adds a graphic sensibility to the pathway.
While the homeowners wanted the play barn to be as refined as their main residence, they also needed it to be practical. Cunningham began his design scheme with two pairs of club chairs, but upholstered with a vibrant striped performance fabric, as well as a rug that can easily absorb wet guests right from the swimming pool. The homeowner, who has worked on prior projects with Cunningham, says, “Décor wise, I just think Mark is the most talented designer out there today. There’s nobody who can compose a room the way he does. He made the barn comfortable, yet refined and family-friendly.”
Concurrent with the needs to respond to a family that has grown up, so, too, did the homeowners’ need to change the overgrown property. Not surprisingly, after two and a half decades, the bushes and trees, borders and flowers beds had become too bountiful. “Upon looking at the nearly two-acre property, I said to the homeowner, ‘We could make this property look twice as big if we open up the spaces,’” says Derrig. He and his crew removed the majority of the plants, even relocating a London Plane to carve out a circular driveway. “The house had a lot of loose borders,” explains Derrig, “so we put hedges throughout, on all four corners of the property, and created beds in front of those.” He fashioned an all-white garden, planted hydrangeas, apple trees, ginkgoes, magnolias, small ornamental trees and low-rising hedges that grow to about 30 inches high. “We didn’t so much want to create outdoor rooms, but rather give the property more definition while opening it up.”
The homeowner emphasizes that she wanted a new landscape that would be striking but not onerous to maintain. “Michael planted lots of perennials to help mitigate upkeep, he made a small cutting garden that is such a treat, put in beds of dahlias that you can admire now in summer until fall, and hydrangeas that are so appropriate out here. What Michael the architect, Mark the interior designer, and Michael the landscaper did for us was change the entire experience of our house.”
