Inside Look: Dune CEO’s Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson

Over the past few decades, the New York architecture firm Sawyer|Berson has designed a bevy of houses in the Hamptons. Admired for their stylistic versatility, founding partners Brian Sawyer and John Berson have masterminded everything from stately Colonial Revival residences to bold, contemporary compounds. But never before had the studio worked on a home quite like the one proposed by Richard Shemtov for a wooded single-acre property in Southampton.

Shemtov, the CEO and founder of furniture company Dune, was looking to build a weekend retreat to share with his wife, Dominique, and their three daughters, who range in age from 14 to 26. He envisioned something modestly scaled, modeled after traditional gable-roof barns but in a rigorously pared-down style. Key inspirations were Herzog & de Meuron’s Parrish Art Museum in nearby Water Mill and the Baron House in Sweden by John Pawson.

“It wasn’t our typical commission,” says Sawyer, who has known and worked with Shemtov for years. “It was an exercise in discipline, really, a fun puzzle to work out. We could fit a certain amount of program in the box.” Adds Berson, “As it turned out, that was a deceptively simple idea, to coordinate the plan and section and make the entire composition sing.”

A Southampton Home Three Years in the Making

To create a crisp silhouette, Sawyer and Berson sunk one of the structure’s two main levels entirely below-grade and devised the standing-seam roof, a weathered-gray zinc, so that it is flush with the perimeter edges and has hidden gutters. Expanses of 10-foot-high, black-painted aluminum–framed glass—most of which slide open—line much of the front and rear facades, while the rest of the exterior is clad in a distinctive recycled-glass brick.

The house’s ground floor encompasses an open living/dining area, the kitchen, and four bedrooms. The loftlike basement level—housing several entertaining areas, Shemtov’s home office, a laundry room, a gym, and a kitchenette—is completely column-free, which added significantly to the engineering complexity of the project. The house also expanded a bit as plans developed: A custom-fabricated carport was tacked on and room was carved out below the eaves to create a half level, a cozy attic den that can double as a guest bedroom. “It’s the house we wanted,” Shemtov says. “But we went way over budget and it took nearly three years to build.”

Interiors are by Homeowner Richard Shemtov

A big chunk of that time was devoted to fitting out the 8,000-square-foot interiors. It’s not uncommon for Sawyer|Berson to handle every aspect of a project—architecture, interiors, landscape—as can be seen in the duo’s forthcoming monograph, to be published by Rizzoli this fall in advance of the firm’s 25th anniversary. But in this case Shemtov oversaw the interiors himself, his first time designing a project of this scale. “Every inch of the house was considered and thought out, almost to the point where it was obsessive,” he admits.

A Courtyard Garden by Sawyer|Berson Brightens the Lower Level

The art is mostly things the homeowners have collected over years, works by friends or that have a personal resonance. One new acquisition is the Bernardo Siciliano painting of a restaurant interior that hangs in the dining area. The scene felt distinctly familiar to Shemtov, who learned after he bought it that the artist had based it on Lincoln, a restaurant in Lincoln Center where Dune created a custom banquette.

To bring light down into the lower level, Sawyer|Berson, which oversaw landscaping, created a courtyard garden with a series of amphitheater-style concrete terraces that are arrayed with a profusion of potted plants. “I originally saw it as a kind of hanging garden with things tumbling down,” says Sawyer. “Richard came up with the idea of lining it with pots, which I think is fun and punchy.”

The focal point of the rear grounds is a minimalist swimming pool, surrounded by porcelain-tile coping and a sweep of precisely graded lawn. There’s an outdoor kitchen and a poolside dining pergola, as well as a covered terrace that’s become one of the family’s favorite hangout spots. Shemtov imagines spending weekends and summers here with the girls—and, eventually, their families—for many years to come. “Labor of love is a commonly used term,” he says, “but with this house, it resonates a lot.”

Inside a Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson 

sawyer|berson: alex taylor wilk

blue sky design: structural engineer

bk kuck construction: general contractor

toulemonde bochart: rug (lounge)

normann copenhagen: small side table

romo: chair fabric (lounge), drapery sheers (living area, dining area), banquette fabric (mudroom), bench fabric, window-treatment fabric (guest bedroom), settee fabric (main bedroom)

anna karlin: pendant fixture (dining area)

élitis: chair fabric

crosby street studios: rugs (dining area, guest bedroom)

schmitt design: chandelier (living area)

pollack: sectional fabric

kerry joyce: chair fabric

through jeff lincoln art & design: cocktail table, side tables

Ortal: fireplace

foro marble: fireplace stone

stone source: floor tile (mudroom)

renson: custom carport, custom pergola (exterior)

damien hirst: wallpaper (bedroom)

art + loom: rug

Knoll Textiles: wall fabric

robert allen: headboard fabric

brinklicht: pendant fix­tures (kitchen)

corian: countertops

piet boon: stools

wolf: oven

California Faucets: sink fittings

through lee jofa: drapery fabric (main bedroom)

c & c milano: bed fabric

céline wright: pendant fixture

beadlight: sconces

jab: chair fabric, ottoman fabric (main bedroom), chair fabric (game area)

mgs milano: outdoor shower (guest bedroom)

pelican pools: pool (terrace)

ceramiche refin: pavers

lindsay cowles: wallpaper (bedroom)

paul smith: lamp

loro piana: chair fabric

verzelloni: bench

jane churchill: bench fabric

modernica: screens (game area)

Moooi: pendant fixture

salvatori: wall tile (bathroom)

concrete collaborative: countertop stone

ann sacks: floor tile

brizo: sink fittings

&tradition: lamp (den)

fleetwood windows & doors: windows, exterior doors

rheinzink: roof

harbour outdoor: outdoor furniture

Stonhard: resin floor coating

benjamin moore & co.: paint

Richardson Pribuss Architects Designs an Artists’ Residence in Mill Valley, California

When a New York–based artist couple decided they needed an exurban getaway, they opted out of the usual suspects. No Hamptons, Hudson Valley, or Berkshires. Instead, they cast their net some 3,000 miles away and landed in Mill Valley, California, where they purchased a diminutive cottage, one of four built almost a century ago along Corte Madera Creek. Considering that the wife is originally from Carmel Valley, the destination wasn’t such a stretch. What might have been, though, was their choice of Richardson Pribuss Architects. The owners came upon the local firm simply through Googling. “The clients’ executive assistant called, set up an interview and site meeting, and we were hired the next day,” principal Heidi Richardson recalls.

At that initial encounter, Richardson and principal Andrew Pribuss mentioned original drawings would be helpful. The couple pulled them from a closet, and Richardson discovered a prior owner to have been erstwhile clients for whom they’d rehabbed a nearby property. Kismet aside, initial plans for mere renovation morphed into a full-on rebuilding effort—COVID-challenged, at that. Along with preserving the locale’s giant redwoods and optimizing views of them, the overarching intent was to remain true to the cabin vernacular while “boiling down the essence of domesticity to just 1,600 square feet,” Richardson notes.

A gamechanger was easing up the entry sequence from the carport, bedeviled by clunky staircases and changes in grade. “We took a ton of dirt and back-filled a corner of the property at the far side of the porch to level things and create a meandering path,” Pribuss explains. Another big move entailed restoring and enhancing the dwelling’s standout architectural element: its gables, which had been subjected to an awkward addition and framing-over during previous renovations.

Everything else is new. That means butt-joined cedar siding, its verdant color appropriately selected by the artists. Cedar, too, are porch railings and decking; the custom front door is hemlock. Blackened steel surrounds enlarged openings and a quartet of new skylights situated “to nail views of those trees,” Pribuss continues.

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The architects reconfigured the floor plan, providing new walls and finishes throughout. Three bedrooms became two, resulting in an expanded living-dining-kitchen area plus an entry-adjacent mudroom zone. Client requests included wide-plank European white oak flooring and a wood-burning fireplace to replace the chunky river-rock original. As for the kitchen, the wife had photos to back up her mind’s-eye vision of the island: part butcher block, part Brazilian soapstone, its plywood cabinetry painted a blue-green shade whose appearance changes according to the light. (Speaking of lighting, the couple wanted it low tech, ergo the white-oak pendants and spots.) The minimal palette is simplified to the max. Walls are limestone plaster that is slightly reflective. The primary bath is predominantly Fontainebleau limestone. Main sleeping quarters have a hemlock bed niche.

With the advent of COVID, the owners were constrained to just one more job-site visit, which occurred during framing. That was it for in-person communication. “But they had so much trust in us,” Richardson says. “In turn, we had to fall back on our instincts and drill down on the details.” Only at the end of the year-and-a-half process did the owners come to see results. They discovered the firm had gone beyond its architecture purview to stage furnishings—including Lievore Altherr Molina’s Alya chairs in the dining area and the Sunbrella-covered two-seater on the front porch—meant as suggestions for future purchases.

Design Within Reach: Chair (Porch); Sofa (Living Area)

Blu Dot: Sofa (Porch)

Ore: Firepit

Stickbulb: Lighting Pendants (Living Area)

Ortal: Fireplace

Lulu And Georgia: Coffee Table

Hd Buttercup: Lounge Chairs

Burke Decor: Round Side Table (Living Area); Stools (Kitchen)

West Elm: Square Side Table (Living Area); Chair (Bedroom)

M. Teixeira: Soapstone (Kitchen)

Blanco: Sink

Dornbracht: Sink Fittings (Kitchen); Tub Fittings (Bathroom)

Rocky Mountain Hardware: Cabinet Pulls (Kitchen, Bathroom); Sink Fittings (Bathroom)

Andreu World: Chairs (Dining Area); Table (Bedroom)

Through Moma Design Store: Art Print (Dining Area)

Sun Valley Bronze: Door Lever (Entry)

Kohler: Tub

Michael’s Upholstery: Custom Ottoman (Bedroom)

Allied Maker: Spotlights

Dinesen: Flooring

Jada: Windows

Royalite: Skylights

Ecostucco: Wall Plaster

Haussmann: Stone

Abacus Builders: General Contractor

Turbin Structural Engineering: Structural Engineer

Arterra Landscape Architects: Landscape Design