Until the mid 20th century, the project site was a submerged, marshy sandbar in the Peconic Estuary. It first appeared as land above water on a USGS map in the late 1950’s, when the surrounding channels were dredged and the peninsula was filled in. The surrounding area, known to the Algonquin as Weg-quae-and-auke, “the land or place at the end of the hill,” and to the English as Sag Harbor, retained its characteristic hills, streams, meadows, and swamps, even as it grew into an agricultural region and seasonal destination. Today, natural landscapes, agricultural remnants, and formal gardens coexist in Sag Harbor, lending the landscape a distinct vernacular identity.

The site design draws on these familiar landscapes by embedding jewel-box gardens in naturalized coastal meadows. The meadows are made up of colorful grasses and sedges, resilient to flooding and predation, while the formal gardens each serve a distinct purpose as destinations in the landscape. Within the house, five glass-enclosed courtyards capture gray water from the building roof in water-loving, terrarium-like gardens. Elsewhere on the site, outdoor rooms accommodate gathering and entertaining with a sunset lookout, fire pit, wisteria trellis, meditation space, parking area, and multiple vegetable and flower gardens.