Gwathmey Residence And Studio / Charles Gwathmey

Architects: Charles Gwathmey
Area: 156 m² (1,680 ft²)
Year: 1966 (Original Residence), 1967 (Studio Addition)
Photography: Charles Gwathmey, Cameron Art Museum, Scott Frances, Esto, Paul Yoo, Norman McGrath, Taylor, danismm.tumblr.com
Client: Robert and Rosalie Gwathmey
City: Amagansett, New York
Country: United States

Gwathmey Residence and Studio, a residential project designed by Charles Gwathmey in Amagansett, Long Island, New York, United States, established an experimental approach to domestic architecture through the arrangement of geometric volumes, sectional relationships, and integrated living and working spaces. Designed in 1965 for the architect’s parents, Robert and Rosalie Gwathmey, the original residence was completed in 1966, followed by a separate studio and guestroom addition in 1967. The project occupies a relatively flat, approximately one-acre site near the Atlantic Ocean, where its composition of intersecting cubes, cylindrical elements, and recessed surfaces creates a sculptural relationship with the landscape. Gwathmey organized the original 111 m² house vertically across three levels, separating guest accommodation and workspaces at the base, communal living areas on the middle level, and private rooms above. A double-height living space establishes visual connections between floors, while a balcony links the upper bedroom and studio to the principal living area. The cedar-clad wood-frame structure uses carefully positioned windows, colored framing elements, and geometric openings to articulate the relationship between interior space and exterior form. The separate 45 m² studio addition continues the same architectural language but occupies the site as an independent volume rotated approximately 45 degrees relative to the original house. The design reflects Gwathmey’s interest in the volumetric principles of Le Corbusier and the abstraction associated with late modernist architecture. Its restrained materials, sectional organization, and distinction between enclosed and open spaces established an early example of the architectural approach that would characterize Gwathmey’s subsequent residential work.

Gwathmey residence and studio / charles gwathmey | classics on architecture lab

The Gwathmey Residence and Studio was commissioned by Robert and Rosalie Gwathmey, the architect’s parents, for a property in Amagansett on eastern Long Island, a family commission like Robert Venturi’s Vanna Venturi House. Robert Gwathmey was a painter, while Rosalie worked as a photographer and textile designer. Their professional involvement in the arts provided Charles Gwathmey with considerable freedom to develop his first residential commission, subject to a construction budget of US$35,000.

The site occupied approximately 4,047 m² (1 acre) of relatively flat land near the ocean, originally surrounded by undeveloped property. The open setting allowed Gwathmey to approach the house as a distinct sculptural object rather than as part of an established residential streetscape. The location, solar orientation, required functions, and structural organization informed the placement and subtraction of geometric volumes, while part of the property was reserved for a future addition.

Gwathmey developed the design through the manipulation of elementary geometric forms, particularly cubes and cylindrical elements, creating a composition that appears to emerge from a solid mass through recesses, openings, and intersecting volumes. Rather than applying geometric shapes as exterior decoration, the architect used these operations to define rooms, circulation, terraces, and relationships between different levels of the house. This approach reflects Gwathmey’s interest in the relationship between form, space, and structure, drawing comparisons with Le Corbusier’s residential work, particularly the houses at the Cité Henri Frugès in Pessac, where curved stair elements interact with rectilinear compositions, a vocabulary also explored at Villa Savoye. The intersection of planes and asymmetrical volumes suggests affinities with De Stijl, exemplified by the Rietveld Schröder House, while the project develops these relationships through its own domestic program and sectional organization.

The original residence measures approximately 111 m² (1,200 ft²) and follows a vertical arrangement across three principal levels, allowing spaces of different heights and degrees of privacy to interconnect within a compact building envelope, a vertical strategy also used at Smith House. The lowest level forms the base of the composition, containing a workroom, two guest bedrooms, and a covered terrace that establishes a direct relationship with the ground. The middle level accommodates the living room, dining room, and kitchen, placing the principal communal spaces above the ground rather than distributing them across a conventional ground-floor plan. The living area incorporates a double-height volume that extends the perceived dimensions of the interior and creates visual connections with the upper level, much as Richard Meier later did at Saltzman House. The third and most private level contains the master bedroom and original studio, set back within the geometric composition, while a balcony overlooks the double-height living room below. This sectional arrangement connects the different floors visually while maintaining their functional separation.

Circulation develops through the relationship between the building’s geometric forms and its changing floor levels. Stairs, voids, and projecting surfaces organize movement vertically, while the intersection of enclosed rooms and open spaces creates alternating conditions of compression and expansion. The resulting interior emphasizes spatial continuity despite the separation of domestic activities across three levels, inviting comparison with the layered section of Douglas House.

The exterior composition reflects this sectional organization through projecting and recessed volumes, carefully positioned openings, and the intersection of solid and transparent surfaces. Glazing responds to the requirements of individual rooms and their relationship with the landscape rather than following a uniform facade arrangement. The resulting elevations reinforce the reading of the house as a three-dimensional composition shaped by interior functions.

The residence uses wood-frame construction with cedar siding applied to both interior and exterior surfaces. The consistent material treatment reinforces the geometric forms while maintaining a relatively economical construction system appropriate to the original budget. Windows are incorporated directly into the cedar-clad surfaces or emphasized through frames painted red, yellow, or black, introducing selected areas of color into the otherwise restrained material palette.

Colored structural and framing elements contribute to the articulation of the facade. A yellow steel beam intersects a red mullion at a right angle, emphasizing the relationship between horizontal and vertical elements. These details introduce a graphic dimension to the building without disrupting the broader geometric organization. Glass and timber surfaces establish contrasting conditions of transparency and enclosure, defining functional voids within the composed volumes.

The original design anticipated future expansion through a shared architectural language that could extend to another building. In 1967, approximately one year after the residence was completed, Gwathmey constructed a separate two-storey addition containing a new studio and guestroom. The addition measures approximately 45 m² (480 ft²), bringing the combined floor area of the residence and studio to approximately 156 m² (1,680 ft²). The smaller structure follows the geometric principles of the original house, using carved volumes and sectional relationships to organize its interior while occupying the landscape as an independent object. Unlike the original residence, whose lower portion appears more firmly connected to the ground, the studio has a more detached presence, establishing a different relationship between architectural mass and site despite their shared construction methods and materials.

The studio addition is rotated approximately 45 degrees relative to the residence, creating a relationship between the corner of one building and the facade of the other. This orientation introduces a diagonal spatial connection across the property, allowing the two structures to maintain independent identities while functioning as a unified residential and working environment. The same cedar siding and selected colored window frames carry the architectural language between them.

The relationship between the residence and separate studio reflects the broader intention to integrate domestic life and artistic production, much like Le Corbusier’s Villa La Roche, built for a collector and his paintings. The original house accommodated workspaces within its vertical arrangement, while the later addition provided a more independent setting for creative activity. Their placement across the open site establishes a dialogue between two geometric compositions rather than treating the extension as a continuation of the original building envelope.

The project became an important early work in Gwathmey’s architectural career and contributed to his association with the New York Five, alongside Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier. The group’s work explored the formal and spatial possibilities of modernist architecture, often emphasizing geometric abstraction, planar relationships, and carefully organized volumes. Gwathmey’s residence developed these ideas through a compact domestic program closely connected to the requirements of its occupants.

The completion of the residence and studio in 1967 coincided with the beginning of Gwathmey’s partnership with Robert Siegel, which subsequently developed into Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, whose residential work includes Cooper Residence. The Long Island project remained an independently designed early commission rather than a product of the later firm’s established practice. Its publication and recognition helped introduce Gwathmey’s work to a wider architectural audience.

After Rosalie Gwathmey’s death in 2001, Charles Gwathmey undertook limited renovations to the property and subsequently used it as a weekend residence. Alterations around 2002 included replacing concrete flooring with white marble and introducing additional windows, while seeking to retain the original geometric composition and spatial organization. Gwathmey continued to use the house until his death in 2009.