HomeMy WebLinkAboutEM11 Theodorus Stamos HouseFOR OFFICE USE ONLY
BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM EM-II
DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVA TION
NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREA TION
ALBANY, NEW YORK (51 S) 474-0479
UNIQUE SITE NO.","""",_____-"
QUAD _____________________
SERIES __________________
NEG. NO . _ ' _
YOUR NAME: Town of Southold/SPI/IA• DATE: September 1987
YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall, Main Rd. TELEPHONE: SJ 6 765 1892
Southold, LI, NY 11971
ORGANIZATION (if any): SouthoJ d Town Community Deve] opment Office
...................................................................... .......................
IDENTIFICA TION
r. BUILDING NAME(S) : TheodorllS Stamos HOl1se
2. COUNTY: S])ffOlk TOWN/CITY: SO])thold VILLAGE: East Mar; on
3. STREET 'LOCATION : 1400 Aqnavi ew Ave.
4. OWNERSHIP: a. public 0 . b. private £l .
5. PRESENT OWNER: Jobn Trikoukas . ADDRESS: __....s""alWm....,e"'-_______~.::....:..:::~.
6. USE : Original: resj denee/art studio Present: ~rlo....lo<.e....s .....i .....d....e'"'=n~e<....le~_ __==_----.
7. ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC: Exterior visible from public road: Yes:£J No O ·
DESCRIPTION
8. BUILDING,
MATERIAL:
9. STRUCTURAL
SYSTEM:
Interior aC,cessible: ExpJain ---l;pL.lr~J....· va.J<...ldo'""'tC.l.e'--"r--'e""s.."..i""'d..,.e<..L.n...."e"'"e~
a. clapboard 0
e: cobblestone 0
b. stone 0
f. shingles 0
c.'brick 0
,g. stucco 0
. a. wood frame with interlocking joints 0
b. wood frame with light members [Ja
d. board and batten 0
other: glas s I brae ed
vertical board
.(if knlWn) c. masonry load bearing walls 0
. d . metal (explain) ______---------_..,.-_______
e. other vertj cal and diagonal wood bracing
io. CONDITION: a . 'excellent iXl b. good 0 c. fair 0 d. deteriorated 0
II. INTEGRITY: a. original site 5a ,b. moved 0 if sO,when?
c. list major alterations and dates (if known): -------:---=~.,.,....:;.,-
Exterior deck added to north and west walls,
Alterations to . kitchen and .bathr~om.
12. PHOTO: neg: KK 1-15, fm N 13. MAP: NYS DOT
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14. THREATS TO BUILDING: ' a. none known ~:'
, d. developers 0
f. other : ~___::--~___--:-::~.".=_~~,.--....,......-=-=j--:
15 . ,RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY: . ' '.
,a. barn 0 b . carriage-house 0 ,c. garage 0
, d. privy 0 e ~ shed 0 ', f., greenhouse 0
g. shop 0 : h. gard ~ns 0 '
i. landscape fea tures : --:::~:-:-:-::::o-:--=:.:.:....'--~-------,-:-
j, other:, ..
16 , SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING . (check more than one if necessary):
a. open land 0 ' b. woodland rn
c. scattered buildings 0 ' ,
d . densely built -up 0 e. commercial 0
f. industrial 0 'g. residential ~ . .
h. other : --:::-:----------=.::::=:-::-:'::::-7-:'--=7-:-':-=:-::=---;---:;--;;:;
17 . INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS :
(I ~dic ~te if building or structure is in an historic district) ,
( .
Located in a low density heavily wooded area north of Main
Rd., near LI Sound. Surrounded by ho~ses of both an earlier
and later date; this unique structure is on a slight knoil .
with ornamental trees that camouflage the hous e. '
18. OTHER NOTABLE ,FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior fe~tures if known):
1 sto'ry house raised on vertical and diagonal posts , with
a -low gabled roof repeated, inverted, on the underside of
the house. Gables are decorated with wood strips in a king
pos·t design. North and south walls predominantly -glass,
in rectangUlar pa~es. Open interior plan with central ser-
SIGNIFICANCE vic e core. I
19 . DATE 0 FIN ITI A L CO NST RUCTI ON :_---=1=-9.L-L5l=---__--:-__---,-----''---__~___:_:~_:_=:::.
BUILDE~~~____________~__~~~_~-~~~~
.HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTVRAL IMPORTANCE:
Ii . Design~d by archite6t 1'0ny Smith, pupil of F~al1k Llo'Yd
Wright, ' this house was the residencelstudio of painter .
and sculptor Theodorus Stamos who achieved international
fame following his first one man show at Wakefield Gal
lery, New York, in 194) •. , The house is an important example
.of Early Modernism on Long , Island because of its unique
. construction and sculptural design. "
-21. SOURCES:
Correspondence, Alastair Gordon, Sag Harbor, NY. , '
Art News, December ~966, pp 52-57/Smithsonian~ May 1987.
_Interview, John Trikoukas, 9/87/Suffolk Times, 11/26/54.
TH01E: '
Form preparGd by Kurt Kahofer, research assistant
/
Theodorus s tamos House EM-11
East Marion
NY Time s , 10/18/87...,(\,
~l'HEOD OROS STAMOS
OCTOBER 6 -31
DORSKY GALLE RY
~~8 W 58th ST., NYC 10019 (212) 838-3423
s tamos Hou s e, from S , neg : KK 1-16.
Theodorus stamos House, East Marion EM-II
glass do o rs . The entire perimeter of the structure is surrounded by a
covered porch, while wider sun decks extend out from either of the long
(e ast and west) sides of the house The all-round overhang of the flat roof is
supported by 18 I-beam style posts .
Robert Rosenberg had designed a low, Mleslan pavilion of glass in 1959
atop the secondary dune overlooking Two Mile Hollow beach in East
Hampton . The house , which Rosenberg had designed for his own family 's
use, had a communal living area with a sleeping room at one end . A
separate bunkhouse would be added to the property at a later date .
Approaching the house from the north , one could look right through the
interior living area out to the d u nes and ocean beyond . With its north and
south wall s made almost entirely of glass , the house practically vanished
into the scenery When Philip Johnson visited the Rosenbergs , it is sa id that
he referred to the house as a poor man 's verSion of his own glass house in
Connecticut.
Not all of the new houses had flat roofs . Two of Marcel Breuer's Long
Island projects , the Geller house i n Lawrence (1 9 45) and the Hanson house •
in Huntington (1951) had "butterfly" roofs . Starting high at the ends, the
planes of the roof sloped down towards a central low point.
George Nel s on us ed a similar configuration (but with different effect) in a
hou se he designed in East Hampton in 1951. Two long sloping ramps gave
shape to the hou s e , which wa s built for a bachelor and hi s inval id mother .
The ramp s were needed for the moth e r's w heel c hair . A high vantage pOint
,..---------------...... at one end of the house was required to gain an ocean view out over the
roofs of a neighboring public bathing pavilion Nelson extended the forms of
the two ramps to give the house it s overall criss-cros s s hape .
Some of the more experimental houses of the period pushed the
traditional "geography " of the American hou s e to a new limit. Truly isolated
on the land scape like imag inary obje c ts in s pace, they were radica l
departure s from the accepted imagery of the hous e. They tested the
tolerance and adaptability of their inhabitants . forcing them in some case s
to alter the habit s of their e veryday l ive s . Elem e ntal geometric s o lids tilted ,
sk ewed , and rotated like ch ildren ·s blo c ks the houses ro se up from their
sites . lookin more like ab stract scul tures than human domicile s
The unu su al hou se / studiO t hat Tony Smith designed In 1951 for the
arti s t Theodoros Stamos in Ea st Marion was one s uch departure . A long .
diamond-s hap e d hull form is cradled high on a set of vertical and diagonal
braces There is full fenestration al both the south and north ends . w hile t wo
skylights ne ar the center of the roof br ing ample studio l ight to the middle
part of the house Like a boat in dry dock raised on post s or a lunar landing
module , the hou se makes strong metaphoric a ss oc iation s mi x ed w ith a
certain amo u nt of arch itectural tongue -I n-ch ee k It re ally po s se ss es two
peaked ro o fs -one at the top where most rool s ar e lound and the o ther
Geller house, Lawrence, by Mar.
eel Breuer, 1945. (ES)
Theodorus stamos House
East Marion
EM-II
Theodoros Stamos house and
studio, East Marion, by Tony
Smith, 1951. (AG)
below. droppin g down like an und e rbelly
Her e In Ih e Sta mos h o us e (CI S w ell as in th e hou se /s tudio that Smith al so
designed a t this l im e lor th e art deal e r B e tty Pars o ns In nea r by Southold ), we
can rec o gnize a rar e sculptural sensib ility that wo uld be brought to lull
re c oan lt ion Ir.,r;m it hs s eco nd car e er a s a scu l t or
Andr ew C..(?r le r (Ih e n stili a d es ign e r at the Raymond L oewy Corporati o n )
al so cr eated a seri e s 01 sculpture-like s tructur es along th e shor e s 01 Long
I sland T wo of hi s mor e ey e-grabbing pr o l ec t s from th e 195 0s m a d e u s e o f
dram on d or 'bo x -kit e" shap es in l M Ir de sign s
The Pearlroth ho u s e (19 59) In W e sthampton Beach and the Hunt hous e
Long Island Modern, Alastair Gordon, 1987. p. 20.
?()
EM 11
By Judd Tully
Sydney and Frances
Lewis-the quest
for the best in art
After a tentative start some 25 years ago,
the Richmond couple, founders of Best
Products, gained momentum and expertise
In the early 1960s, Sydney and Frances Lewis of Rich
mond, Virginia, attended an auction in New York with
their friend painter Theodore Stamos and bought
at Stamos' urging-an anonymous French chest and a
i pair of side chairs. At the time they had no idea their
[
-, ' \
spontaneous purchase would lead them into an en
tirely new field in their more than 20-year bout of
collecting fever. And into an accumulation of art that
would ultimately require a new wing back home at the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
"1 was intrigued _-by those lines," recalls Sydney
Lewis of that first piece of Art Nouveau bought at auc
tion. "1 can speak for me . I can't speak for Mrs.'Lewis."
Before his next sentence emerges, Frances Lewis af
firms "Absolutely, absolutely," and charges seamlessly
into the conversation . "Now stop me if I'm wrong,"
Mrs. Lewis challenges with the arch of an eyebrow,
"bu t we started collecting, for furnishing our house,
like everyone else around here with 18th-century Eng
lish furniture, buying at auction, mostly in England.
That lasted about two years."
Interviewing the Lewises together at home or in
their offices at corporate headquarters, one grows ac
customed to getting compound answers to single ques
tions. A longtime friend of the Lewises puts it this
way: "SydneyandFrances is definitely one word. They
kind of flow together."
The Lewises are something of a down-home Medici
family, keen on bringing the latest expressions of cul
ture to the public. Their ability to do so has been
Philanthropic Lewises are quite at home in new
wing of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.
Smithsonian Nov. 1987.
84