314. Gordon Bunshaft /// Travertine House /// Georgica Pond, East Hampton, New York, USA /// 1962
OfHouses presents “Pritzkers’ First Houses, part IV”:
Gordon Bunshaft (Pritzker 1998) designed only one house during his career.
His own retreat in the Hamptons, a concrete structure with travertine walls, was home to Bunshaft’s extraordinary collection of modern art: Moore, Miro and Giacometti in the garden; Picasso, Dubuffet and Leger on the walls.
Bunshaft left the house and the collection as a bequest to the MoMA. The museum kept the art, but the property was put on the market. Martha Stewart bought it and commissioned John Pawson to design an extension. The planned swimming pool and guest bedrooms were not completed, but the house and garden were left mutilated being recognition. The blocks of Italian travertine were halved and now adorn Martha’s kitchen…
The house was finally demolished in 2005 by Donald Maharam, who bought the lot from Stewart. Asked why he didn’t tried to repair the existing structure, Maharam replied: “We bought a great piece of property. We didn’t buy a house.”
(Photos: © Ezra Stoller/ESTO.)
