COUNTRY HOME

FLOWER HILL (EXTERIOR)

Architectural Design | Interior Architectural Design | Garden Architectural Design | Interior Design | Construction Administration

12,000 SF – New Single Family Home in Flower Hill, NY

The intention was to design a completely custom home in modern classic style to fulfill our client’s modern lifestyle and fit comfortably in a neighborhood filled with traditional styled homes.

The land was a pie-shaped one-acre property with a very wide curved street frontage and a relatively confined space in the backyard. Therefore, the floor plan layout was designed to be a widespread plan, consisting of three separately distinguished prominent structures, each tilted with an angle following the curvature of the land and connected with shorter structures that presents the two entrances to the house. This layout allowed us to have three side windows for the majority of spaces, bringing in plenty of natural light and views of the garden.

The exterior fascia of the house is grey stone and painted wood planks, the most commonly used construction materials in the neighborhood. But both materials are used in a modern style size and shape to work with the modern classic style of the house.

Although the front of the house is relatively quiet and classical in style, the back is playful and more prominent. We intended to create an ease of movement within the spaces in the house, as well as with the connection of the house to the garden.

For outdoor living, by changing the topography we managed to create a multifunctional pool, a small pool house, an outdoor shower, large outdoor sitting and dining terraces, a BBQ area, an outdoor fireplace, a vegetable garden, a green field, and an outdoor rock garden amphitheater with fire pit in the center. There is a walking trail connecting the front wooded area of the house to the backyard and all the outdoor amenities.

The house was built with green healthy construction materials. We were intimately involved with the entire construction of the project and worked closely with the construction manager and all the artisans and craftsmen who contributed to building the house precisely as it was designed.

We were hired to perform Architectural Design, Interior Architectural Design, Garden Architectural Design, and Interior Design Services as well as extensive Construction Administration Services.

TESTIMONIAL

“My wife and I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Sussan Lari and her firm for the past two years designing and building our new construction home in the Village of Flower Hill in Manhasset, NY. Sussan performed all possible aspects of her trade. We had a very specific "modern classic" design in mind for our home which is very challenging. We searched regional architects from Boston to Washington D.C. and even started working with another, supposedly high end, Architect in New York City before finding Sussan right next door in the village of Roslyn. We were incredibly fortunate to find a national quality architecture firm so close which allowed us to combine rare top level design skills with the very close local oversight and personal service Sussan provided.

Sussan is an incredibly skilled designer who brings an extraordinary attention to detail to all aspects of her work. While she has designed homes in other styles, she was particularly skilled with our "modern classic" design vision and greatly enhanced it - both aesthetically and practically. The result is an extremely well balanced home that combines local and global, open and intimate, and modern and classic. We also had very extensive "healthy home" restrictions with natural-only materials requirements that she patiently worked with us and the building contractors to adhere to.

While most architects now cut corners to keep their commitment and cost down (such as only providing kitchen and bathroom layouts and sending the client to go to a "kitchen showroom" to pick everything out themselves), Sussan would never think of this and designs the entire house as a whole. She drafted extremely detailed elevations and was at all product design showrooms herself both with and without us. While we did not know it when we hired her, Sussan's kitchen, custom cabinetry and millwork designs are one of her trademarks and, built by her long-time cabinet, millwork and tile installation contractor artisans, offer the highest level of custom results for a cost comparable to upscale kitchen and cabinetry showrooms.

While we hesitate to call Sussan "old school", as she is anything but in her designs, she provides the full, classic array of architectural skills including hyper-detailed designs, materials selection, construction oversight, and perhaps most importantly, contractor management. Sussan gets the best out of every contractor (most of the best of which she knows from multiple projects). Contractors know they are working on one of Sussan's houses and all take their game up a notch knowing only the best results will be accepted. And her professionalism working with local zoning and architectural boards and building inspectors was appreciated by them and lead to a level of trust that was very important in the approvals process for us.

Perhaps most importantly, though, are Sussan's client relationship abilities. She is just such a pleasurable and trustworthy person to work with. If you mention something to her, she will remember it and, unless she comes back to you with a better idea, you can count of it being incorporated. We had a great collaboration with her with a truly massive amount of ideas exchanged with both of us always willing to defer to a better idea. While, of course, she will bend to the client's will if you want, you probably won't want her to, as the few items we "shelved" for later discussion until an agreement could be found, she was definitely correct on in hindsight!

Even as we walk around our house a year after moving in we still notice interior details Sussan created and we are still getting compliments from neighbors regarding the exterior design. We could not be happier with our new home.”

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