Amagansett House | Amagansett New York | Alex Scott Porter Design

Our client, a family of five from New York City, came to us to convert a conventional shingle and sheetrock house built in the 1980s into a “country house” integrated into the landscape and open to the natural world.
Our aim was to create a house that was timeless, both in its style and its materials – that would age with grace without having to be further renovated in the future.
And we wanted to challenge the idea that sustainable houses cannot be luxurious, by demonstrating that luxury can include not only the latest appliances and furniture by cutting-edge designers, but also materials with their own history and a variety of inviting textures.
To achieve this, we brought in an antique barn frame that was threatened by demolition. This barn frame became the main living area and is joined to the existing house by the kitchen, a glass and steel structure.
The interiors use a simple palette of just a few repeated materials – concrete, reclaimed wood, patinated steel and limestone.
The resulting house contrasts raw with machined elements and vernacular with modern. Ironically, the “new” barn structure appears, and in a sense is, much older, while the existing house structure looks newer, commenting on the conflicting ideas about authenticity that characterize our culture.....more

Maine Island House Designed By Alex Scott Porter Design

This three-season retreat house is situated on the outermost inhabited island in Maine. The island has no roads, stores, electricity, water service, year-round inhabitants or ferry service – no grid. The house can store enough solar energy and rain water to power a refrigerator, lights, kitchen tap, outdoor shower and outlets for music or a laptop for as long as you’d like.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
The 550 square foot house, on a tiny lot, sits right on the water facing the harsh northeastern open ocean – winds clocking 100 mph were measured this year. The house was designed with a hard, protective aluminum shell to close up in the off-season, by three large sliding doors. The exterior needed to be virtually maintenance free, a challenge with the corrosive salt air. But in mild weather the house opens up to take in the prevailing breezes and soak up the daylight. Technolgy-wise, the house has photovoltaics with large-capacity batteries, a 525 gallon cistern, a composting toilet, and a solar refrigerator originally designed for keeping medical supplies cold in Sub-Saharan Africa. The local lobsterman turned out to be a great source for sustainable energy information as he had been living off-the-grid for decades. The construction had to be planned to the nail, as all the materials came out at once, on an amphibious Vietnam-era US Army landing craft that pulled right up onto the beach (Everyone on the island came out to watch). All the framing is on a 2-foot grid for fail-proof planning and coordination. The simple interior uses unfinished north-eastern woods. In addition, truly local materials were used—beach stones for the hearth and island-cured concrete counters – as well as recycled plastic laminate for the cabinets...........more