Beinfield Architecture PC

Darien, Connecticut

As architects practicing in New England we have been drawn to the timelessness and essential meaning found in the stark, simple, patterned forms of early American architecture. We have endeavored to understand our forefathers' construction materials, the scale of their buildings and the meaning of their forms, to gain fundamental understanding of the delight that can be found in early American architecture. We enjoy rediscovering nearly lost lessons of the past, and endeavor to integrate them into buildings that meaningfully address the individual needs of their occupants, as well as fit comfortably into our contemporary context.

Our work ventures back to the roots of American Architecture, and moves subtly between the historic and the modern, connecting the past to the present. It is architecture of distilled images that often embody a childlike simplicity, employing an informed and intuitive use of pattern that integrates the structure and fenestration. The images are intended to express a dreamlike, yet familiar, quality where objects and scale may be slightly skewed and suggestively distorted.

The McNear Residence is an expression of these sensibilities, while having a more complex inner life. The house from the exterior seems a simple New England home with careful attention to detailing of windows, doors, rafters and shutters. The cedar roof with its central chimney, traditional wood siding and fieldstone base help create the impression the house has always been there. The public face features a regular rhythm of smaller windows while the rear façade is more expansive, with walls of glass that open up to a garden and pool.

The interior has a distinctly modern vocabulary hidden behind its façade, with exposed steel columns supporting the upper level above the primarily glass main living space. Modern sliding barn doors separate interior rooms. A subdued palette of white and grey wood creates a clean and soothing interior.

"A house in a garden" was a major concept of the clients. The resulting patio and pergola play a major role in the relationship of house to landscape. An outdoor shower features a backdrop of zinc panels arranged in a whimsical fish-scale pattern, while a traditional flagstone terrace and outdoor fireplace mass anchor the building to the site.

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