Hamptons Modern Farmhouse Flooded With Light and Luxury

A luxurious twist on the Modern Farmhouse ideally suited to the Hamptons, the new custom home in Sagaponack, N.Y., boasts 7,672 square feet, five bedrooms, and seven bathrooms. The home’s 1.33-acre property abuts 36 acres of farmland, providing lush surroundings and serene views from nearly every room.

While reminiscent of Modern Farmhouse vernacular, with white nickel gap siding and a simple gable roof, the house favors contemporary lines. The front entrance is free of ornamentation, graced by tall, narrow windows and a black-framed-glass garage door.

Rear of modern farmhouse in Sagaponack, New York featuring custom TruExterior siding

Large swaths of glass make up nearly the entire rear of the home, which was designed by architect Glen Fries Associates and built by Burns Realty Development. The breakfast nook and second floor bedrooms bump out into a sharp point, breaking up the otherwise linear facade.

One of the exterior’s most unique features is the perfectly round two-car garage, a modern take on the farm silo. The garage’s exterior is clad in TruExterior Trim milled in a shiplap pattern by DURATION® Moulding & Millwork and installed vertically.

Front of modern farmhouse in Sagaponack, New York featuring custom TruExterior siding by Duration Moulding & Millwork

Crafting vertical shiplap for a round form was no small feat. “We have a full-time AutoCAD expert on staff,” says Keith Coleman, president and CEO of DURATION Moulding & Millwork, which manufactures trim exclusively with TruExterior, a proprietary poly-ash material from Boral Building Products. “We took the radius of the building and figured out what maximum width of shiplap we could produce and still be able to wrap the building and have it look completely round and not segmented.” Coleman’s team used full-length boards to ensure a seamless appearance from top to bottom.

Along with its workability to create the precise size and profile required, TruExterior offers the authentic look of wood but with durability, dimensional stability, and low maintenance to eliminate worries about unsightly splitting, cracking, or warping.

The architect specified TruExterior for the main house, as well, with DURATION crafting a custom-size nickel gap profile that adds to the Modern Farmhouse feel. The DURATION team made prefab corners with a locking miter and mechanical fastener support. “The corner won’t open,” Coleman says. “The result is this cool, continuous look as the TruExterior nickel gap wraps the building.”

DURATION also used TruExterior to create the one-piece circle casings, which are painted dark bronze, around the home’s circular windows as well as the tall panels between the windows.

Entry of modern farmhouse in Sagaponack, New York featuring custom TruExterior siding by Duration Moulding & Millwork

Modern luxury continues inside, with 5-inch-wide golden oak flooring, a dramatic honed black-slate two-story fireplace, a vast kitchen island, Miele and Sub-Zero appliances, freestanding soaking tub, and Toto and Kohler bathroom fixtures. In the double-height, open-concept great room, clerestory windows combine with the expanses of glass from French doors running the length of the rear to flood the space with light. A walkway above connects the master bedroom wing to the other bedrooms, where more floor-to-ceiling windows bring in additional natural light.

Great room of modern farmhouse in Sagaponack, New York, is flooded with light from the expanses of glass and clerestory windows

The home’s basement level features a walk-in wine cellar, game room, gym with full-height mirrors, and wet bar, while the expansive outdoor space includes a heated gunite pool and attached spa, outdoor kitchen, pergola, private outdoor shower, and pool house.

For more photos of the Hamptons Modern Farmhouse, view the architect’s portfolio.

Architects: Low-Maintenance Exteriors Continue to Pique Homeowners’ Interest

TruExterior siding, modern house

Even though they spent much more time at home in 2020—and spent much of that time improving those homes—homeowners continue to have little desire to waste time cleaning, painting, and staining their exteriors.

In its recently released Q4 2020 Home Design Trends study, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) found low maintenance and durability to be the exterior detail homeowners were most interested in, with 62% of architects reporting increasing interest, nearly the same as the year before. (Data is calculated by the percentage of architects reporting “increasing” minus percentage reporting “decreasing.”) Products that offer the look of wood without the associated maintenance, such as TruExterior poly-ash siding, can combine authenticity and a natural look with high performance and resistance to rotting, warping, and cracking.

Though farther down the list, fire-resistive design and materials saw growing interest, with 32% of architects reporting increased popularity in 2020, up from 29% in 2019.

When it comes to home styles, contemporary looks were the most popular feature, with 50% of architects reporting popularity increasing, down slightly from 54% the year before. Modern Farmhouse saw a perhaps not surprising decline, with 33% of respondents reporting increasing popularity versus 41% in 2019.

Interest in front porches is growing, with 38% of architects seeing increasing popularity in 2020 compared to 31% the year before.

Among neighborhood/community options, infill housing was the most popular, with 61% of architects reporting increasing interest (slightly less than 64% the year before), followed by multi-generational housing, which rose sharply from 41% in 2019 to 54% in 2020. Also noteworthy was high-density housing, which plummeted from 55% of architects reporting increased interest in 2019 to just 34% in 2020. The dramatic drop may be a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, with homeowners desiring outdoor space and places to grow their own food.

In AIA’s Q3 2020 Home Design Trends study, the association reported a continued softening in home size, with -11% of architects reporting home square footage increasing minus those reporting it decreasing. Interest in larger homes dropped even farther, to -22%, for entry-level/affordable homes. Custom home sizes stayed steady.

And of course, outdoor living continues to be popular, with 53% of architects reporting increasing interest; however, there was a large drop versus 2019, when 68% reported increasing interest. Interest in blended indoor/outdoor spaces also hovers near 50%

To view the full quarterly reports, as well as an archive of the studies from the past few years, visit the AIA Home Design Trends Survey.

Inspiration Gallery: Foundry Siding Elevates 9 Exterior Facades

With so many options to mix and match siding styles, textures, and colors, there’s no excuse for a ho-hum façade. And Foundry Siding makes it simple, delivering the warm look and beautiful colors of cedar to enhance curb appeal.

Combine Foundry’s variety of shingle, shake, and stone profiles with each other and with other materials to create compelling, varied exteriors that stand out and ensure each home looks unique. And while Foundry offers the authentic looks of natural materials, its innovative PVC makeup requires little maintenance.

Here are just a few ways builders and remodelers are using Foundry to create distinctive homes.

Foundry siding

Foundry 10” staggered shake in Snow and stone combine perfectly on this home to create a dramatic yet elegant look.

Foundry Staggered Shake, Foundry Split Shake

Foundry’s extensive color selection offers ample opportunity to create eye-catching color contrast in gables and accents, as seen here with Staggered Shake in Russet and Split Shake in Lite Khaki.

Foundry Staggered Shake

Alternatively, try complementary colors for a more subtle contrast, as seen here with a combination of stone and Foundry Staggered Shake in Eggshell.

Here’s another example, as Foundry combines with a similar-toned vinyl on the lower level for a soothing coastal vibe.

multifamily

The expansive façade of this multifamily project could easily have turned staid, but a combination of stone, Foundry siding, and white trim, along with a pop of black in the shutters, create eye-catching variety while helping to define individual units.

Foundry siding

At this foster home in Michigan, accent walls and gables clad in Foundry siding combine with lighter blue horizontal and vertical siding profiles elsewhere on the façade.

Roslyn Ridge

Foundry shakes in a Pacific Northwest-friendly blue are the perfect backdrop for the bold trim accents on this facade in Morningstar Homes’ Roslyn Ridge development. (Photo: @boral_trev_westerncanada⁠)

Boston Exterior Remodeling, Foundry siding

Also consider how siding and other exterior elements combine, as seen here in this Boston Exterior Remodeling project featuring Foundry Grayne Shingles in Rustic Slate on equal footing with the bold, attention-grabbing yellow door.

Explore more Foundry projects in our Inspiration Gallery.

Videos: M2X and S2X Gauges Speed Up Trim Bends

Tapco Tools, M2X, custom trim, contractor brakes

Tapco Tools’ professional-grade brakes help contractors achieve a high-quality, finished look for custom exterior trim projects. And two accessories—the M2X and S2X—make these tools even more efficient and easy to use.

M2X Measuring Tool Allows for 50% Faster Bends

As its name suggests, the M2X gauge measures two times as fast while eliminating the need for a tape measure and pencil marks for bending.

The M2X measuring tool consists of an onboard measuring tape and two easy-to-attach, moveable brackets with corresponding measurement markings. Where once users had to measure, mark the bends (often front and back), and then move the trim to those marked positions, now they can simply place the material on the brake and move it to the scale on the M2X gauge accessory. The result is as much as 50% faster bending—and no pencil marks or snip-cut marks on the finished product.

Check out this video for an overview of the M2X at work:

Ready to learn more? See how to install the M2X:

S2X Material Stop Gauge Speeds Repeat Trim Cuts and Bends

Like the M2X, the S2X material stop gauge is aptly named: It allows for cuts and repeat bends in trim two times faster than traditional methods.

The S2X gauge includes two orange anodized aluminum material stops on two long bar/pivot assemblies adhered with white measuring tape and orange cut-off tape. Slide the stops along the bars to the desired measurement and secure in place with thumb screws; when material is inserted into the brake, the accessory stops the material at the precise spot for an accurate cut or repeat bends—no tape measures or pencil marks required. Along with time savings, the gauge can better ensure accuracy and, subsequently, cleaner installation.

Check out this video for an overview of the S2X gauge:

Ready to learn more? See how to assemble and install the S2X:

Explore the M2X, S2X, and other Tapco Tools gauges here. For a virtual demo, contact us.