Lunch With Preston Phillips

Since relocating to Bridgehampton from Manhattan 25 years ago, renowned architect Preston T. Phillips has created not only one of the most photographed houses in America (the Butterfly House in East Hampton), but his own home, which has graced the cover of Architectural Digest.

Known primarily for his work on the East End, Mr. Phillips has designed a total of 50 projects in 38 states, as well as in the United Kingdom and the British Virgin Islands, since moving here in 1984. This year, his firm will recognize those projects with a retrospective of sorts of some of his most memorable designs.

Over lunch of vichyssoise and lobster BLT sandwiches on the porch at The American Hotel in Sag Harbor (singer Billy Joel and former Mets player Keith Hernandez were dining at the next table) last week, Mr. Phillips discussed his work and design philosophy.

Q: How did you come to live and work on the East End and why is this an important year for you?

A: I had lived in Manhattan for 10 years. And after 10 years, I decided it was time to look for something out here. I had worked out here off and on for three or four years doing little, small, what I call “finger exercises,” you know, little summer houses. When ‘84 came around and I was ready to buy a place to move, it was the obvious place to come. So I moved out here and just fell in love with it. Of course, it was so bucolic, sort of the opposite of everything I had experienced in New York. So 25 years later, we decided to do some sort of acknowledgement, not really a retrospective or celebration but just kind of acknowledging 25 years. The 50 projects just sort of came out of nowhere, but we ended up being 50 projects in 25 years, that was the whole genesis of the idea.

Q: What is the purpose of noting this “25/50” and having other people know.

A: We didn’t think it was the right year to call it a celebration. That wouldn’t be appropriate because of the economy and the two wars we’re fighting and other challenges, but it was worthy of recognition. When I moved out here full time in ‘84, there were literally five architects. Now there’s 150. We thought it was important to remind people that we’ve been here for 25 years and that we’re still here. These 50 projects range from very large, sprawling 12,000-square-foot houses and some are very small master bedroom-master bathroom renovations. It was a way of just reminding everyone of who we are, what we’ve been doing. Let the work speak for itself.

Q: How does your own personal sense of style relate to your projects? Tell me about where you live and how that fits your personality.

A: For my house, the property obviously had a lot to do with it because it’s a deep wetland, woodland, protected site. I wanted to build a house that was based on the design concepts of the De Stijl period of architecture, which is pure geometry and primary color. I wanted it to be a big surprise at the end, which I think it is. There’s just something about that era. Simple, simple, minimalist yet very powerful images that are just pure geometry and primary color.

The house on the outside appears as very, very pure. And on the inside, it’s very sculptural with lots of carved out spaces. Then there’s the undercurrent of what I call the horizontal line. Frank Lloyd Wright knew this better than anyone, but I think he got it mostly from his Japanese print collection, which he had. There’s something very calming about the horizontal line.

Throughout the residence, particularly on the interior, there’s an overriding horizontal thing that’s happening. It’s probably so subliminal that you’re probably not even aware of it. I use that in almost all my projects, people just are relaxed and at ease.

Q: You have a very wide range of style. Do you have a style that’s you, you’re signature?

A: That’s something that’s hard to answer, I get that a lot. A couple of Realtors have hit it on the head, and they said they can always tell if it’s a Preston Phillips house.

Q: And how is that?

A: Well, I’m not altogether sure. It could be the attention to detail, it could be the horizontal line thing, it could be the fact that they are all finished in a certain way, they just have a certain quality about them.

Style is just one of those things I don’t think I would hang my hat on. Obviously I’m a modernist, trained as a modernist. I worked for Paul Rudolph in New York for years. He’s, in my view, the greatest American modernist that ever lived. But it is one of those things that when someone comes to me for a house, I want to give them exactly what they want but I want to give it to them through my eyes and interpretation.

Q: You are a well-known architect. When did the media attention begin?

A: My first two houses were built elsewhere, down South, and were published in Southern Accents. They really got a lot of attention nationally. I got work all over because of the two houses being in a national publication.

My house being on the cover of Architectural Digest just set everything on a new paradigm, everything after that completely changed.

Q: Plus, this piece will be on the cover of the Residence section of the Southampton Press, and that’s a pretty big deal (laughs).

A: Well, that’s certainly my most recent crowning glory (laughs). But seriously, Alistair Gordon wrote the big article on the Butterfly House. I think it’s the most photographed house of the 21st century. I ask anyone else out there to find another house that’s been photographed more than this.

Q: There’s of course Falling Water.

A: That’s the 20th century, I wouldn’t touch the 20th century. The Butterfly House article ran the Thursday before September 11, 2001 and it was picked up by every magazine, every paper from Town and Country and Vogue to Dwell and everything since it was a little 1,000-square-foot beach house on an $8 million piece of property. The Post ran a note that it was the most expensive one-bedroom house in America.

Q: Describe what your aesthetic is and how you approach a new project?

A: We take them all individually. Every site is different, every client is different. Frank Lloyd Wright used to bring out a big platter of seashells to all of his clients who would come for a meeting and put it on the table and say “You see how each one of these is different, they all represent the occupants of the seashells. And that’s why some are long and some are different colors, depending on where the sand came from.” So I’ve always used that as a little bit of a touchstone because every client is different. Every environment is different.

Even out here, we have seven or eight different climates between the beach and the bay. Each one requires a little bit of nuance. If you’re on the beach, you have one set of rules, if you’re on the bay, you have another. If you’re on a potato field, you’re on another. We try to approach each project individually and of course no two clients are alike.

Q: How do you most typically work with a client?

A: They tell me the building program, which usually includes some aesthetic guideposts. Within those guideposts you also get a few hints of things that they’re maybe wanting but don’t realize. Often they’ll show me photographs and if you take all the photographs and look at them, there might be an underlying theme that they haven’t even recognized.

That’s sort of the beauty of it, people come to you with their wish list. But yet, sometimes they’re asking for things they don’t realize and it’s my job to interpret that and to create in three dimensions something that is in a way abstract for them.

And of course, we always do a scale model. The scale model is the thing that really tells them exactly what they’re getting. And the reaction is almost universally the same, it’s like “wow, that’s exactly what we wanted.” So that’s been sort of the hallmark of my career I think, giving people really exactly what they wanted.

Q: I’m guessing that in order to do that, you’ve got to be, in addition to being a great architect and designer, you’ve got to be a really good listener.

A: Completely. And you have to listen throughout the process. Often, they’re continuing to tell you what they want. I spend a lot of time listening.

Q: What kinds of things do you go over in the initial meeting?

A: We start with a survey, usually. From that, we understand what the setbacks are what the features are, like trees, if there’s topography involved, next door neighbors, things that will influence the final design. After we’ve discussed that, we talk about their building needs—how many bedrooms, do they want a really formal house, something really relaxed, we talk a little bit about their lifestyle. Then we talk about materials.

I have one client that’s rather celebrated and he wanted an urbane barn. As a way of me interpreting what that meant—a barn aesthetic that has really modern materials—that’s the kind of thing I get back from the client. Of course, there’s schedule and budget, both of which require longer timelines than what people are imagining and sometimes more money than they are thinking about. So early on, you have to really talk about money and time.

Q: Typically, how long from when the process begins to the completed project?

A: It takes about six to eight months to design a custom home. Then it takes about a month or six weeks to get the permits, assuming there’s no restrictions. I always tell people that eight to nine months to breaking ground, then 14 to 16 to 18 months to build it, depending on size, complexity, etc.

Q: So what’s the best time to come to you and say, “Hey, I want to build this house?”

A: Anytime (big laugh)! The issue of time is really about when the client wants to occupy the house. Everybody wants to move in Memorial Day. We’ve kind of missed the boat for next year, but the year after is doable. You set the move-in date, then work the timeline backward. Believe it or not, Memorial Day 2011 move-in is right around the corner.

Q: Do you have clients who get very antsy as you approach Memorial Day?

A: All of them. I pretty much I tell them, “you could probably live there for Memorial Day but plan your party for the Fourth of July.” You need to give the gardens time to fill in, getting a lawn and shrubbery in.

Q: What are your newest or upcoming projects?

A: A wonderful little house in Amagansett, it’s 2,800 square feet, a true upside-down house right on the water. The whole roof is devoted to solar and hot water. It’s very up to date from the green standpoint. We’re also doing a big house in Southampton on the last building lot in Southampton Village. And that house will hopefully start next year.

Q: Are you doing more and more environmentally conscious work?

A: Absolutely. We’ve always had a foot in that well but everything now sort of passes through that.

Q: Do you think this will be the future of architecture?

A: I think it will have a big role to play. I think the marketability of a project that has passed that scrutiny is even better. I hope it does stay in the eye of the public because we got a little carried away. You want to build for the long term and things that will hold up over time, we really kind of got away from that.

Q: Do you have a favorite house that you’ve done?

A: Well, it’s like asking someone about their children. I think that might be another Frank Lloyd Wrightism. And you know what his answer always was (pause)? The next one.