In Sag Harbor, New Design In Historic Contexts

At a time when infill building—defined as building in a vacant space between other buildings on a property, or between two existing buildings—in historic districts has become a heated issue among architectural review boards, the public, and the preservation community, a very informative and lively historic preservation workshop on best practices for infill design, entitled “New Design in Historic Contexts” took place last Saturday in Sag Harbor Village. The all-day event drew an audience of architects, landmarks commissioners from both the North and South forks, preservationists, members of local ARBs, and the general public.The program, funded by the New York State Certified Local Government Program and the Village of Southampton, consisted of morning tours of both the John Jermain Memorial Library and the Watchcase factory lofts and townhouses. Speakers for the afternoon session included architects Sherida Paulsen, FAIA, principal PKSB and former New York City Landmarks Commission chair, and Nancy Rankin, AIA, principal John G. Waite Associates, along with Alexandra Wolfe, director of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities.

As attendees toured the John Jermain Library, still under construction, Catherine Creedon, the director, provided background information on its history. Given to Sag Harbor by Mrs. Russell Sage, a philanthropist and widow of financier Russell Sage, the library, including the land, cost $80,000 to build in 1910. A New York architect, Augustus N. Allen, designed the Neoclassic Revival brick- and limestone-clad edifice with ceremonial granite stairs rising in two tiers to the front door. The front portico with fluted limestone columns supports a grand pediment adorned with decorative ornaments in the form of palm leaves. Just below the roof cornice, an entablature, filled with triglyphs and metopes, wraps the building like icing on a cake. The library is also capped at 60 feet by a copper-clad compression dome over its upstairs rotunda, which is supported by Guastavino terra-cotta tiles.

After 100 years of quick fixes, original construction details poorly conceived, and inadequate maintenance, the building suffered from degradation enhanced by the elements. The dome was leaking and plaster started to fall off the walls from water intrusion. The needs of the community weren’t being met by the current facility and it became clear that the building had to be either abandoned or restored and expanded. After several proposals were submitted the public finally voted on the latter, which allowed the library to remain in place, consequently keeping the most significant corner of civic architecture in the village intact.

Newman Architects of New Haven was awarded the commission for the restoration and addition to the building. Money, beyond the initial bond for construction, needed to be raised just when the Great Recession hit. Additionally, forensic work revealed the cause of the leaking dome and other problems necessitating the expansion of the construction budget. Area variances were granted so the building could be expanded in the back practically up to the lot line. Fundraising is ongoing and the anticipated cost of construction will be $15 million.

The architect’s concept for the addition was to add angled wings off the back of the building, which follows the Secretary of the Interior’s recommendations for allowing distinctly different styles and material components that still relate in terms of scale, proportion and massing. This modernist addition is a play of solid against void, brick mass against a transparent, subservient backdrop of glass and steel. The rendering of the front elevation actually makes the addition look far more dominant than it will be in reality.

The new wing is still in a raw state while the interior of the existing library is being beautifully restored with its cracked, faux limestone walls completely replaced to look like real stone. The stained glass skylight atop the dome has been painstakingly repaired, while a good cleaning has brought back the richness of the Guastavino tiles. The masonry, re-pointed with a mortar using real sand, has been brought back to life as well.

Ms. Creedon noted that library functions have changed over the years. The library will have fewer books, although ebooks are available for loan—all while more and more people are using its resources. A meeting room will be available for the Sag Harbor residents as well as public events. There’s even talk of a cappuccino machine. Ms. Creedon is a librarian and archivist with 40 years’ experience, and her input into the programming of library functions has been invaluable and the architects have heeded many of her suggestions. She does, however, look forward to the day when she no longer has to oversee a construction project and can once again read poetry instead of blueprints.

The Watchcase factory, originally built in 1881 by Joseph Fahys for the manufacture of watches, was sold to Bulova in 1936 and used for watchcase fabrication. By 1981 Bulova closed the factory and the building remained empty and deteriorating for more than 30 years. Cape Advisors developed the property and commissioned the architectural firm of Beyer, Blinder Belle to convert the factory into luxury loft condominiums with separate townhouses also containing bungalow units.

Cee Scott Brown, chair of the Sag Harbor Architectural Review Board, led the tour. After giving the group a brief history of the project he explained that the new townhouses were built to be reminiscent of the workers’ factory housing, complete with casings, soffits, double-hung windows, front porches and brickwork. These units surround the perimeter of the property to form a wall creating the interior courtyard.

The original factory housing was much smaller in scale than the current-day models. House size has, however, nearly doubled over the last 100 years and the new units are sized for 21st-century living. The complex, as conceived, in Sag Harbor Village is really all about urban living—a city within a city right down to the underground parking and storage provided for the entire complex. The lower-level factory units have views of the interior courtyard and the closely adjoining streets. Upper level units can look over neighboring houses, while the penthouse units have spectacular water views. The interior courtyard will feature landscaping by Quennell Rothschild & Partners, seasonally embellishing the outdoor pool and fitness pavilion.

The units on display for the tour were the same ones open to the public at a Holiday House gala earlier this summer. On this visit they were devoid of furnishings and it was evident that the scale was lost without the décor.

In the afternoon talks, certain themes experienced in the morning tours became apparent in the examples of new design in historic contexts cited by the speakers. Sherida Paulsen spoke extensively on the organization of the New York City Landmarks Commission and the kind of decision-making that goes into the commissioners’ deliberative efforts regarding best practices for infill design. She mentioned the Renzo Piano addition to the Morgan Library situated between the two other buildings in the compound. Unlike the other architects who were going to erect a tower between the two, Mr. Piano said,” You have to dig a hole.” His addition buried the square footage underground, bridged the other structures together with a small glazed connection on each side, and maintained the scale of the overall compound. The Hearst Tower, Higgins Hall at Pratt Institute, and the future addition to the Parke-Bernet building on Madison Avenue not only possess a certain shock value but also allude to architectural elements and styles nearby while connecting in a way that separates the original structure from the new addition.

Ms. Paulsen told the audience that for landmarks in New York no demolition permit would be issued until a permit for a fully designed replacement has been issued. Imagine if the East End townships added this caveat to their preservation regulations.

Nancy Rankin presented renovations, restorations and additions that her firm has done to such structures as the Nassau County Courthouse and Louis Sullivan’s 1918 Farmer’s & Merchant Bank in Columbus, Wisconsin, as well as the moving of Alexander Hamilton’s 1802 Grange. She discussed the design methodology of archival research coupled with physical investigation to produce historic structures reports for the firm’s projects.

Alexandra Wolfe discussed what constitutes appropriate design and the way in which additions can establish a dialogue between old and new. This does not include, however, taking details as symbols from one building and applying them as pastiche to a new framework.

In a question-and-answer that followed the talks, audience members started to describe the problems with local zoning ordinances that need to work in concert with historic districts but that don’t, because municipalities turn a deaf ear when it comes to revamping regulations. The impact of the Federal Emergency Management Agency codes potentially mutilating historic waterfront properties by creating 50-foot-tall houses also aroused interest from the panel, with Ms. Wolfe saying jokingly, “Can I just blow my brains out now?” Welcome to preservation on the East End.

Anne Surchin is an East End architect and writer currently working on a companion book to “Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930,” which she co-authored.