What Was Old Is New Again

I must admit that when the proposal to develop Topping Rose House (née the Bullshead Inn) property was first advanced I had many concerns.

The ambitious project included the renovation, restoration and refurbishment of the original 1842 Greek Revival Mansion, and a sizeable addition to same, resulting in a total of seven guest rooms, the restoration of an existing historic barn on the property, construction of a new state-of-the-art wellness studio and pool, 15 additional guest rooms spread among four new guest cottages, and the studio building. There is also a 1-acre farm on site that services the 50-seat restaurant. The project was so large that it required its own water treatment facility.

Of greater concern to Bridgehampton proper was the additional traffic generated by the inn, its restaurant and ancillary support facilities at an intersection, which for two-thirds of the year can best be described as a quagmire. There was also the specter of “commercial creep” extending up the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike and the required up-zoning of adjacent residential parcels, which were acquired to provide adequate space for site drainage and parking for the proposed occupancy loads, particularly the restored barn, which functions as a private event space for up to 75 guests. Ambitious indeed!

Phase I of the project, which included the original house with its historically proper addition and the restored barn, is now complete. The restaurant and bar, under the auspices of chef Tom Colicchio, are open. And “The Barn” has hosted its first event.

The inn’s seven completed, fully furnished and outfitted guest rooms will not open until spring 2013 when Phase II—which includes the wellness studio, pool and four guest cottages—is completed.

I took a tour of Phase I last week with the general manager, Jeff Morgan. Under the expert aegis of Roger Ferris & Partners architects team, the renovated “House” has come into the 21st century with its 19th-century character intact. The period details are beautifully restored and executed. The new porches gracing the east, south, and west facades are replacements of long-lost architectural elements. The careful and thoughtful addition of a new 2,000-square-foot addition, north of the original mansion, is wonderfully “attached” via an-all glass enclosure, or breezeway.

The new guest rooms on the second and third floors are generously sized, well proportioned and beautifully appointed. Light pours in from all sides with a minimum of five windows per suite, and the bathrooms are commodious and efficiently designed. Closets are tucked into walls behind wood paneling, which creates a seamless interior, devoid of visual interruption.

I visited on a busy Friday afternoon and the rooms were perfectly silent, an indication of great care taken by the architects and contractor JGF Pinnacle to ensure proper soundproofing of the exterior envelope.

The guest rooms follow a comfortable, muted—but not identical—interior design aesthetic, so that each guest room feels unique and serene without being thematic. The interior design firm Champalimaud, well known for its attention to detail in projects of considerable scope and import, has set just the right tone here.

The selection of interior furnishings, decorative lighting and interior embellishments, including the public areas, is by turns crisp, yet sumptuous in feeling. Not an easy combination to achieve.

The area rugs, upholstered furnishings and window treatments have a luxurious hand and scale. The guest rooms feel comfortable without being “clubby.” The bathrooms have a few too many materials to my eye (two different ceramic tiles plus a beautiful rich dark stone) but all are striking and unique. It’s a small point, but there seems to be a lot going on in an already busy area.

The art collection throughout is modern and unexpected.

The first floor of the original mansion encompasses the new restaurant and bar, separated by the gracious original center stair hall, which terminates in the aforementioned floor-to-ceiling glazed breezeway. The kitchen is located below the new addition and is beyond whatever state-of-the-art represents in restaurant quality kitchen design. An underground tunnel provides discreet access to the nearby barn for staff and food service from the kitchen.

It’s all wonderfully thought out and sensible, yet maintains a grace and scale appropriate to the original house.

I particularly enjoyed being on the porches. The accompanying landscape, designed by Ariays Design, is a big reason why. The landscaping creates an envelope of space that feels intimate. The perimeter hedge at the Montauk Highway and Turnpike intersection is penetrated just enough at the two entrances, and at the property corner, to create a connection with Bridgehampton beyond and not feel completely walled off.

The installation of the hedge a few months ago was an additional concern as the original house has proudly stood on this corner, open to its surroundings for 170 years. Gratefully, this relationship has not been completely lost.

The parking is north of the new addition and barn and, for the most part, is out of sight. The large horse chestnut and maple trees, which remain on-site, are additional anchors to the property’s heritage and provenance. A new crab apple orchard has been installed next to the pool and studio building, and drifts of varying types of hydrangea flow throughout the property.

All said, Phase I is quite a triumph of restraint and appropriateness in architectural expression, which is often more difficult to achieve than just letting go. However, with the addition of the two-story wellness studio and four guest cottages, Phase II portends to shift the aesthetic further afield and into a modernist vein.

That approach, while noble in concept, can be fraught with missteps when juxtaposed against a Greek Revival backdrop. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Ferris’s team makes this transition in such close quarters.

Even now, the restored barn’s natural board-and-batten exterior in such close proximity to the white shingles of the original house and new addition is a bit off-putting. One can only wonder how these new, sleek, wood-and-glass modernist boxes in a campus of historic buildings will fare.

Come spring, all will be revealed and I shall remark on it here.