American architectural firm Bates Masi + Architects completed the Pryor house located in Montauk, NY. The house occupies a hill in Montauk with a distant view of ocean. A site that the owners, a couple with two young boys, spent years to find. It is the couple’s reprieve from their home in the city, to share the outdoor lifestyle with their family and to remember their teenage years together in Montauk. The house design prompts the owners to interact with the surrounding environment, evoking experiences of camping.
Pryor, image courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
Pryor, image courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
A departure from typical residential planning, the house is entered through multiple areas for different guests and occasions. Large glass doors slide open to the living, dining and kitchen area for a large gathering, a smaller scaled swing door for an occasional guest opens to the center hall with a view of the ocean, and a sequence of auxiliary spaces – beach equipment area, outdoor shower, sand and mudroom – create a seamless ritual from the daily activities for the family and friends.
Pryor, image courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
Pryor, image courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
In all living areas and bedrooms, glass doors and insect screens slide in and out from pocket walls, transforming rooms to screened porches or spaces completely open to the landscape. The living area, a double height space with kitchen, dining and living area, has thirty-six feet wide glass doors that pocket into southern and northern walls. When open, the dining room becomes a picnic area and the living room fireplace becomes a campfire. Multiple layers of bronzed metal fabric at the clerestory windows in the living area fold and unfold to adjust sunlight for optimal brightness & temperature of the space. These operable architectural elements use the natural environment to create suitable living conditions.
Pryor, image courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
The house is environmentally friendly in its overall construction and planning with such specifics as geo-thermal heating & cooling, shading & venting systems, solar panels, organic finishes and materials. Lending to the structure’s sustainability, the house is assembled, rather than built, with prefabricated foundation, panel siding and efficient built-ins minimizes construction debris or toxins such as concrete foundation tar on the site. With the owner’s initial premise of camping, the design and functionality of the house promotes a memorable experience for friends and family in the natural environment.
Pryor - Site plan, drawing courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
Pryor - Ground level floor plan, drawing courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
Pryor - Upper level floor plan, drawing courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
+ Project credits / data
Project: Pryor
Architects: Bates Masi + Architects | http://batesmasi.com/
Location: Montauk, NY, USA
Client: Victoria & Greg Pryor
Lot Size: 1.6 Acres
Building Size: 3200 Square Feet
Photographs: Bates Masi Architects
Typology: House
+ About Bates Masi + Architects LLC
Bates Masi + Architects LLC, a LEED accredited firm with roots in New York City and eastern Long Island for over 45 years responds to each project with extensive research in related architectural fields, material, craft and environment for unique solutions as varied as the individuals or groups for whom they are designed. The focus is neither the size nor the type of project but the opportunity to enrich lives and enhance the environment. The attention to all elements of design has been a constant in the firm’s philosophy. Projects include urban and suburban residences, schools, offices, hotels, restaurants, retail and furniture in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. The firm has received 28 design awards since 2003 and has been featured in national and international publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Architectural Digest and Dwell. A gallery exhibition in May 2010 featured the firm’s earlier work from 1960-70.
Paul Masi received a Masters of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and worked with Richard Meier and Partners before joining this firm in 1998.
Harry Bates received a Bachelor of Architecture from North Carolina State University. After ten years with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he was in private practice in New York City for 17 years before moving the firm to eastern Long Island in 1980.
+ All images and drawings courtesy Bates Masi + Architects
