Property of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Knox, in Bridgehampton, NY | architect: Alexander Knox

Can a house be lighthearted? Certainly this one is. Indoors and out it is as exuberant as the weekend living for which it was planned. The living room, round as a carousel, has a parasol-shaped roof. The dining room walls slide wide open on two sides. The circular kitchen wraps around a cosy hearth. These are enchanting features. They are a constant joy to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Knox, who own the house, and fun for their guests, too.

Part of the pleasure of the house is due, naturally, to its seaside setting. It overlooks Sagaponack Pond near Bridgehampton. New York, and commands. panoramic views of lush green meadows and blue waters stretching away to the ocean. (The Knoxes can go to the beach by boat from the foot of their land.) But there is equal pleasure in the fresh form of the house itself. The round living room pavilion rising airily to its fanciful roof is a continual delight and surprise, especially at night when the glass walls are lighted and crowned by the gleaming dome. And the curious wedge shape of the house gives the living and dining rooms the widest possible views seaward, yet you can also look back into a quiet, enclosed courtyard for a change of scene. In its freedom of form, in its circular rooms and sculptured roof, the little house illustrates the new trend away from the austerity of rigid, box-like shelters.

Planned for vacations and weekends in the spring and summer and fall, the house is no architectural folie. The 1.800 square feet of space includes only four rooms and they were expertly planned for easy maintenance. The Knoxes saw to that because they do the maintaining themselves. The round kitchen is as efficient and step saving as a ship's galley. The dining room, also spare and uncluttered as a cabin on shipboard, has hard-wearing fir floors like the outside decks that flank it. Entertaining is easy because the dining room can be merged with the adjoining outdoor areas and the pass- through to the kitchen helps everyone to help himself. For overnight or weekend guests there is a compact but separate one room house with its own cabinet-kitchen, bathroom and outdoor terrace. You can see it directly below, to the right of the main house-it faces the waters of Sagaponack Pond.

On a sunny summer weekend the house unfolds. The 8'-wide sliding glass walls of the dining room are pushed back and it merges with the south deck, the shore beyond it, the white pebbled courtyard. (The sliding screens can keep out insects.) For large or small parties this is perfect. At lunch Mrs. Knox places the food at the kitchen pass-through back of the dining table and guests pick up plates and sit on cushions on the deck, steps or loggia. The deck rail itself is a long bench. At night, dinners are usually buffet and small tables are placed in the enclosed courtyard or on the deck. With the house lighted up the effect is entrancing. Conversation or dancing in the round living room often follows dinner. When the Knoxes are alone on a chilly spring or fall weekend they can eat snugly beside the Franklin stove in the kitchen and their bedroom doubles as a sitting room. An ingenious sliding door can divide the dressing alcove from the bedroom, providing individual privacy, and there is also a second bathroom. The cypress board walls and roof of this wing are fully insulated and central heating was recently added.

Round shape of the kitchen is clearly defined by its solid enclosure of vertical cypress boards which contrast with the glass walls of the round living room. The pass-through, directly next to the range, insures hot food at dinner and becomes a service bar for food or drinks at parties. When closed, its doors match the board wall. Triangular dining room is like a breezeway when sliding glass sash is opened. Route to front door is at left, to bedroom, right.

Kitchen work counter is as efficient as a soda fountain. Wall refrigerator, sink, burners, oven are just a few steps apart. The kitchen itself, white, with birch cabinets, gray vinyl floor, is not many feet away from the bedroom, dining and living rooms or the outdoor areas. Next to the cheerful Franklin stove, the alcove where the Knoxes breakfast looks seaward through adjoining window. Kitchen has an ample pantry, a lavatory nearby.

_______________________
source: House and Garden Magazine | July 1959