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The residence at 88 Meadow Lane in Southampton Village was originally designed by Norman Jaffe. It was later renovated and added onto by Barnes Coy Architects.
The owner of an oceanfront residence in Southampton Village that was originally designed by modernist architect Norman Jaffe is seeking permission to demolish it — and preservationists are pleading with village officials to say no.
At 88 Meadow Lane, the sculptural, shingled house with natural wood walls, floors and ceilings was built in the late 1970s, but there have been a number of changes since then. Owner Orest Bliss insists that the structure has been altered too significantly to be considered a Jaffe house, while those opposing demolition say it is certainly a Jaffe house and worthy of preservation.
Because the house is in a historic district, a certificate of appropriateness must be obtained from the Southampton Village Architectural Review & Historic Preservation Board, known as the ARB, before it can be demolished. The code on certificates of appropriateness states that properties that make “significant contribution to the character of a landmark or a historic district shall be altered as little as possible.”
Mr. Bliss told the ARB on August 9 that the house that stands at 88 Meadow Lane today is only 50 percent Mr. Jaffe’s design, or less, and the other half is by Barnes Coy Architects, which he hired for a past renovation and expansion. “If someone is going to go ahead and make a representation that 88 Meadow Lane is a Jaffe house, they’ll be committing a fraud,” he said, later adding, “I caution you, if you wish to go ahead and pursue this as a fraudulent effort, I would be very disappointed in the quality of the Architectural Review Board.”
Mr. Bliss also pointed to an irony: Back when the house was built and in the years that followed, many village officials hated the house. He said that his certificate of occupancy from 1979 mandates that he maintain the approved landscaping plan in perpetuity, at his own expense, to ensure that the house cannot be seen from Meadow Lane.
The late Mr. Jaffe told The New York Times in 1986: “Bliss came to me because of a house in Montauk I’d designed that received some praise. He liked the way it responded to the oceanfront environment. So he went to the ARB with similar plans and they said to me, ‘For this you went to college?’ They allowed it but said we had to hide it.”
The Village Planning Board chairman at the time, the late Mardooni “Moon” Vahradian, told The Times, “I don’t think those kinds of houses belong in this village.”
But in the past four decades, appreciation for modern architecture and Mr. Jaffe’s work has grown.
At the August 8 meeting, Luke Ferran, a partner in Bridgehampton architecture firm Kevin O’Sullivan + Associates, told the ARB that it would be a shame for the village to lose another Jaffe house.
“It’s really important to draw the distinction,” Mr. Ferran said, “that the board of 40 years ago is very, very different from views today — what is viewed as important architecture, what is viewed as contextual architecture — and I do believe that it’s a Jaffe house, through and through. Many of the Jaffe houses out here have been added to or renovated with varying degrees of success over the years.”
Tim Godbold, a Southampton resident and interior designer who founded the nonprofit “hamptons20centurymodern” last year to conserve modern architecture, said 88 Meadow Lane is one of Mr. Jaffe’s best works, and he questioned why the house would be demolished instead of sold. “You could put that house on the market and get a substantial amount of money for it,” he said.
He brought a number of photographs of examples of Mr. Jaffe’s work to share with the board. “This is pure American architecture at its best,” he said. “… They’ve modified it, but they’ve done a really beautiful job in keeping the aesthetic, keeping it Jaffe.”
A number of letter writers have also urged the Village Board and the ARB to stop the proposed demolition. Sarah Kautz, the preservation director of Preservation Long Island, wrote that 88 Meadow Lane includes “significant historic resources,” including not only the house but also Mr. Jaffe’s landscape design.
Author and former New York Times and New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger of Amagansett wrote that the Bliss house is a key part of Southampton’s architectural heritage that enriches the village environment. “[A]rchitectural history, and our understanding of it, have changed dramatically since the house was designed 43 years ago,” he wrote, “and we now recognize that postwar modernism, far from being a blight on a historic village, is an important contributor to its architectural richness.”
Chris Coy of Barnes Coy Architects said during an interview last week that his firm’s work on the property about 15 years ago entailed a rather expensive renovation and addition.
“The original house was too small, so we renovated what was there and we did an addition toward the east that gave them more facilities, and we did a very cool egg-shaped pool house,” Mr. Coy recalled.
He said the existing house was “a little tired.” The kitchen and the “entry sequence” — a term that encompasses everything from approaching a driveway to walking through the front door of a house — were both included in the renovation. Some structural elements were also updated.
“We had to change the shape of the house,” Mr. Coy said. “We tried to follow as much as we could the lines of the Jaffe house so we could make it all work together, and we wanted to be respectful of the work of Norman Jaffe anyway.” He noted that Mr. Jaffe’s work often included triangular geometry in the roofs.
“When it was all done, it really looked like it has all been done at the same time, which is what our objective was,” he said.
Mr. Coy said he doesn’t mind if Mr. Bliss wants to take the house down, and he agreed that the house is less than 50 percent Mr. Jaffe’s work at this point.
“I’m sensitive to Norman’s legacy. I knew him and he had a huge influence out here, and he was a good guy. And he did a lot of very important work out here,” Mr. Coy said, pointing to Gates of the Grove, an East Hampton synagogue that Mr. Jaffe designed in the late 1980s. “It is necessary to be respectful of Jaffe, but it is also necessary to respect the rights of a property owner,” he added.
Mr. Brodlieb noted at the meeting that a third-party consultant will assess the property and its architectural context.
Mr. Bliss urged the board to wrap up its review quickly.
“We will not delay or drag our feet, but we will not be anything other than thorough in what we’re doing,” Mr. Brodlieb said.
“I’m 86,” Mr. Bliss said. “Do you think you’ll make it before they put me under the ground?”
The matter was adjourned to Monday, August 23, as the public hearing continues.
