Modernist Properties Are at Danger Within the Hamptons

There’s a motive why Modernist structure nonetheless has loads of enthusiastic followers immediately — from historians who revisit previous many years of residence design to enthusiastic patrons trying to name a particular and historic area residence. However not each iconic Modernist house is beloved, honored and preserved — in some instances, some exemplars of residential structure have been bulldozed (actually or metaphorically) to make manner for one thing new and probably much less spectacular.

And, for quite a lot of causes, this has occurred within the Hamptons greater than as soon as.

That’s one of many large takeaways from a current Curbed article by Kim Velsey. Velsey factors to a number of Modernist houses within the Hamptons, together with homes designed by Norman Jaffe and Philip Johnson, whose new house owners seen them extra as growth websites than livable areas in their very own proper. As Velsey factors out, the identical type of architectural preservation companies that exist in New York Metropolis aren’t as current in case you head due east — and that may result in a few of the points described within the article.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t any efforts being made to protect the Hamptons’ Modernist structure. Among the many folks quoted within the Curbed article is Timothy Goldberg of Hamptons twentieth Century Trendy, whose web site describes the group as “working to convey better recognition to those houses and their designers, to higher honor their place in historical past, and to safe their legacy.”

The group maintains an array of listings of Modernist houses within the area which are on the market, and a database of contractors who focus on engaged on the homes in query. Will or not it’s sufficient to maintain these areas protected? That’s the large query — however it’s loads simpler to reply as extra individuals are invested in defending them.