Meadowlark House by Garnett DePasquale: Cedar-Clad Modern Architecture in the Hamptons

Located in Sag Harbor within New York’s Hamptons, Meadowlark House by Garnett DePasquale Projects exemplifies contemporary residential architecture. Originally intended as an extension of a neighboring property, the 3,853-square-foot house became a standalone residence, designed to maximize a compact lot while addressing privacy and contextual integration.

The house combines a black-stained cedar façade with a gabled roof, modular window patterns, and a near-opaque front elevation contrasted by a fully glazed rear wall. Interior design integrates soft green accents, natural wood floors, and textured surfaces to balance modernist geometry with warmth and comfort. Meadowlark House illustrates how materiality, spatial composition, and visual permeability can be harmonized to enhance both aesthetics and livability in a dense residential setting.

By addressing zoning constraints and site orientation, the project exemplifies a sensitive and sophisticated approach to infill residential design. The integration of interior and exterior spaces, alongside carefully considered views and circulation, transforms a limited footprint into a nuanced spatial experience for its inhabitants.

Design Concept and Spatial Organization

Meadowlark House embodies a blend of modernist rigor and contextual sensitivity. The gabled roof and singular volumetric form create a simple yet striking silhouette, while the internal layout balances public and private zones. Entry is centered, but the staircase separates floors, orchestrating interior views toward the exterior landscape. The design emphasizes both platonic and rational form, ensuring clarity and coherence throughout the program.

Materiality and Façade Articulation

The exterior is clad in black-stained cedar lap siding, segmented with vertical battens from foundation to parapet. This approach articulates the façade while providing visual texture and durability. Large rear glazing frames landscape views and fills interiors with light, while interior materials such as natural wood floors and black and white stone offer tactile contrast.

Material	Application	Architectural Effect
Cedar Siding	Exterior cladding	Textured appearance, durability, and warmth
Glazing	Rear façade	Visual connection to landscape, daylight penetration
Wood Flooring	Interior floors	Warmth, tactile comfort, visual softness
Black and White Stone	Kitchen and bathroom counters	Visual contrast, modernist accent, material durability

Integration with Landscape

The house carefully responds to its tree-lined lot, setting the volume back from the street to maintain privacy. The rear façade opens to gardens and pools, creating an intimate connection with the surrounding landscape. Views are choreographed through floor-to-ceiling glazing, terraces, and sunken lightwells, ensuring an interplay between interior and exterior experiences.

Interior Program and Functionality

Meadowlark’s interior combines open circulation with defined programmatic areas. The staircase divides floors, linking living, dining, and kitchen zones while facilitating visual and functional orientation. Green accents, including tiles, furniture, and upholstery, enrich the spatial narrative. The design balances privacy with openness, allowing both intimate and communal experiences within the residence.

Architectural Analysis

The design logic of Meadowlark House integrates material expression, volumetric clarity, and contextual sensitivity. Cedar siding and glazing articulate a balance between opacity and transparency, privacy and openness. Interior finishes reinforce tactile quality while providing visual coherence with exterior elements. The modularity of window placement and facade articulation reflects modernist principles while accommodating site-specific constraints.

Critically, the house raises questions about scale and integration. Does the singular, monolithic form effectively respond to the Hamptons’ residential vernacular, or does it assert a contemporary architectural statement? The project navigates this tension, creating a dialogue between tradition and modernism while remaining contextually respectful.

Project Importance

Meadowlark House demonstrates how contemporary residential architecture can optimize small or constrained lots through thoughtful spatial planning and material strategy. It teaches architects to balance modernist rigor with environmental context, creating livable, visually compelling homes.

The project contributes to discussions on urban typology, showing how individual residences can achieve formal coherence, respond to zoning and privacy needs, and enhance their relationship with landscape. In an era of increasing density and environmental awareness, the house provides insights into efficient design strategies, material durability, and user experience.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

Meadowlark House demonstrates refined materiality and spatial composition, balancing the opaque street-facing facade with a fully glazed rear. The black-stained cedar, natural wood, and stone create a tactile interplay of warmth and modernist clarity. However, the house’s singular volumetric presence prompts reflection: does it harmonize or dominate the context? Its integration of interior views with exterior landscape exemplifies successful site-responsive residential architecture, offering a precedent for future modern homes on constrained lots.

Conclusion

Meadowlark House by Garnett DePasquale Projects illustrates the potential for thoughtful, context-aware residential architecture on small or irregular lots. Through its use of black-stained cedar, modular window articulation, and open rear glazing, the house balances privacy, openness, and modernist clarity. Interior materiality, green accents, and spatial organization foster a sense of warmth and connectivity, enriching the experience of living within a compact footprint.

The project underscores the importance of material choices, site orientation, and volumetric clarity in residential design. It encourages architects to consider how small-scale interventions can produce substantial architectural impact while maintaining a strong relationship with context, landscape, and inhabitant experience. Meadowlark House sets a precedent for modern homes that harmonize functionality, aesthetics, and environmental responsiveness in the Hamptons and beyond.

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