The Cool House–Final Chapter

The Cool House has been our home for seventeen years now, that’s hard to believe as we’d lived in many houses in various countries on two continents before I spotted it on the MLSLI website back in 2003. I fell instantly, head over heels in love from that moment. I swear the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and tingles ran down my spine. My love for it has only deepened over the years, for its unique architecture and the warm, inviting design of the original Andrew Geller plans, through all the renovations–really gentle updates–we did over the years to bring it up to today’s codes. 

We always said that when we felt we were rattling around in it, though, it would be time to leave and pass it on to someone who would appreciate as much as we have. This past year of lockdown and quarantine has made us realize the time has come. In normal times visitors, friends and family, would come and go, filling the house with life and laughter. But for the past twelve months it's been just us, and even using both offices full-time and enjoying that luxury, we realized that we don't need all this space; it’s time to look for something smaller. 

I know we’ll never find anything as special as the Cool House but we have so many memories from our time as caretakers of the house. The one that stands out in the forefront is when Andrew Geller came with his wife Shirley and family for his first visit in over forty years, stood on the balcony over the great room, looked around and said “I did good work”! He truly did, not good work but great work, unique–a work of art.

For information on the listing contact Maria & Donna at Compass Real Estate

Whatcha been up to?

  

Well Instagram ruined blogging for me. Why spend 30 minutes coding, writing and updating a blog when you can post a pic in two seconds and it lasts FOR EVER? But this blog is an aide-memoir and a history of this uniquely modern Andrew Geller designed house and so occasionally, say every six or seven years, I’ll pop in to add an update. 

This year has been challenging, COVID-19 has meant no trips, no visits to museums or art galleries and no eating out. I’ve rediscovered a love of cooking and in the past 10 months we’ve only had takeout a handful of times. If you had told me a year ago I wouldn’t set foot in a restaurant for the foreseeable future I would have thrown myself kicking and howling to the floor, but it has been more fun than I could have imagined. 

Maybe because of the extreme use of the induction hob the Electrolux we put in when we renovated the kitchen gave up the ghost. I love my induction hob & can’t imagine ever cooking on anything else so I upgraded to a Bosch zoneless cooktop (meaning I can use the whole cooktop not just designated plates) with WiFi that connects to my phone and watch, which means they buzz when the timer goes off. Cute and handy!

We also got a new pool heater this summer, yes another one, they seem to last only five years , which if you do the math as I did, works out at “Are you freaking kidding me?” money per year. 

The only other things of note are decor related. Working from home meant that rather than not seeing his art every day, The Guy brought it home & we hung the Rocco Monticolo painting on the balcony over the great room.

Other paintings were reframed by the amazing rockstar framer, Ripe Art & Framing, including four paintings by Nadine Bouler, one by Shirley Geller, artist and wife of architect Andrew Geller, and a Will Klemm that now hangs in the foyer. Beautiful things to make this horrible year a little better. Love it all!

Landscaping or revealing the Cool House

Yard after landscaping

Those Cool House readers who follow me on instagram, Facebook or the twitters will be aware that the past month has involved a lot of heavy work around the yard. Six months after the big tree came down we lost a couple of large branches of the plum tree in the front. This was a sad and a shock but it did open up the view to the south west. We saw dogwoods beginning to bloom, pretty specimens that we hadn't appreciated before. We also noticed how forlorn and frankly tatty the border in front of the kitchen patio had become.  The Guy spoke to the landscaper and before I knew what was happening they had decided to demolish half the front yard.

Front yard after landscaping

I had my own issues with the landscaping but they were round the back. I'd never felt the bridge fitted in with the architecture of the house, and although we'd had it mended three times it was again in serious need of repair and I was ready to see it gone. I also hated the mess of a pool and collection of debris that ran along the dry bed that was supposed to be a gentle bubbling waterfall and stream. If the front yard was getting a facelift I was determined the back would have a boost, too.

Backyard after landscaping

The process was not without out its challenges. You cannot imagine my face when I realized that I'd be without a privacy screen of plants for at least two weeks. Staring at soil is not at all therapeutic, plus most of the work was done in sweltering temperatures. The removal of the old barbecue base involved some serious power tools and moving the stones atop the waterfall drew blood from at least one landscaper. But at last it was done, the new lawn grew, the plants-mostly hollies, azaleas and rhododendrons-went in and the sprinkler guys added new zones so everything would be happily watered and ready to grow.

Yard before

Let's look at where we were a month or so ago . Above is a collection of photos taken in the yard over the past 12 years. Below is the front yard on demolition day. The house was hidden and lots of  trees had passed their best. At least one was completely fried. Although I lost some of the layers of privacy in the short term, in the long term we gained so much more.

Yard awaiting demolition

Of course the greatest benefit of all this yard renovation is that we can now appreciate the
unique Andrew Geller architecture of the house.  Remembering what it was like when we first viewed the house in 2003, when there were so many trees enclosing the house that we thought we had been misled by the realtor's flyer, it's a completely different reality.  Now the house can shine in all its glory, for us and every passer-by to enjoy.  This little video below encompasses how I feel now I can relax and kick back, reveling in this glorious Indian summer in the yard. Total and absolute bliss.

Andrew Geller, Architect and Artist

Andrew Geller, the "architect of happiness" is celebrated for his iconic beach house but he is less well known as a painter. Yet it was his artistic talents that earned him a mention in the New York Times at age fourteen after he won a competition for adults with his painting "Self Portrait on the Brooklyn Bridge".  His painting was displayed at the Brooklyn Museum and he attended art classes there before winning a scholarship to the New York High School of Art and Music.  After graduating he took the entrance exam for Cooper Union, claiming that that although he passed all parts it was his skill in free-hand drawing that merited him the place.

Andrew Geller continued to draw and paint after college, filling drawing pads with self-portraits and sketches of his artist wife Shirley.  During his army service in World War II he was often asked to draw his commanding officers.  As his architectural career took off he produced concept sketches brimming with character and gaiety as well as watercolor renderings of prospective projects but there was less time to paint for pleasure. After his retirement from Raymond Loewy International in 1975 he continued to design houses for private clients and it was not until the late 1980s that he was able to devote time to regular painting expeditions around the north shore of Long Island with friends and Shirley.

From these excursions he produced a series of watercolor abstract landscapes. I am very fortunate to have two hanging in the great room of the Cool House. One is a small, predominately bright blue work from 1994, reminiscent of a pond reflecting the clear sky on a sunny day. The other, which hangs on the chimney breast, is larger and dated July 11 1993.  It reminds me of the waters at Caumsett Park in Lloyd Neck or Crab Meadow in Northport, I have to thank Jake and Tracy Gorst for this wonderful painting and Cherie Via Rexer and her team at Ripe Art Gallery for enhancing its character and beauty with this striking frame.

Throughout the nineties Andrew Geller experimented with other forms of painting. He embraced pointillism both as pen and ink drawings and in large format acrylics and his work was often exhibited in local galleries.  He continued to paint until a few months before his death in December 2011. One of my favorite Geller paintings is also one of his last: an abstracted dancing figure among swirls go red, purple and green, whimsical yet powerful.

More of Andrew Geller's paintings and drawings can be seen in Jake Gorst's comprehensive study of his grandfather's work,  Andrew Geller Artist and Architect: Deconstructed 

The upside

Last week I was in mourning for the magnificent spruce tree that has been the focal point of the property since the lots were divided in the sixties. I couldn't imagine what the house would look like without the tree it was designed around. Being a glass half-full person so I knew there would be more light both inside the kitchen and the bedroom above as well as in the yard. What I hadn't understood was how the removal of the tree would allow us to see for the first time the design of the house from the north-west dining room to the southern garage side.

It's possible to stand on the far side of the front lawn and truly appreciate how the house nestles into its surroundings, a testament to Andrew Geller's unique architecture. At last we can fully compare this side with the backyard facing east side. Definitely the upside of losing the tree.

Andrew Geller: Deconstructed at Nassau County Museum of Art

Author and documentary film maker Jake Gorst, grandson of iconic architect Andrew Geller, will be talking about his grandfather and signing copies of his book Andrew Geller: Deconstructed, at the Nassau County Museum of Art on Saturday, September 26th at 3pm.  The event is being held in conjunction with the Museum's current exhibition The Moderns, Chagall, Degas, Léger, Miró, Picasso and more...

Do not miss Jake Gorst's unique presentation which is full of stories about his grandfather, the "architect of happiness", and his influence on architecture and design from the 1950s onwards. Tickets available here

Andrew Geller Beach House Sagaponak Long Island 1966 (Elkin House)

Loss

We are in mourning today for a part of the landscape, for what the tree surgeon described in April as the best tree in the Incorporated Village and for the core of our view every day for the past eleven years. When we moved in to the Cool House the previous owner explained the house's unusual design was conceived in part around this enormous mountain spruce tree in the front yard. Its beautiful fringed, dark green arms seemed to offer our home an enveloping hug, protecting it from the harsh Long Island winters, providing shade from the relentless summer sun. Each morning we have stood in front of the kitchen windows, sipping coffee, watching the birds and squirrels among the branches, marveling at its magnificence.

We took every opportunity of good weather in Spring, Summer and Fall to enjoy lunch al fresco on the patio beneath its branches until, sometime after the Fourth of July celebrations, we noticed the needles on the bottom branches were falling off, even though they were still green. Over the course of the next couple of weeks the phenomenon worsened. We googled, consulted the landscape and the tree experts and came up with a diagnosis of severe needle drop. We crossed our fingers and hoped it would be a temporary problem but the needle drop persisted, leaving only brown fronds; some days it seemed as though it was raining pine needles. 

While we still had tiny, green pinecones on the ends of the branches we could still hope for a recovery but when these too started falling and the branches turned brown and bare farther and farther up the tree we knew we were facing a dying tree. By mid-September it was all over. Even the uppermost tip was dry and the ground beneath covered in a couple of inches or more of desiccated needles.

For the last month we haven't been able to sit outside on the patio, everything has been covered in pine needles. We couldn't bear to drink our coffee looking at the tree, it was too depressing, and most telling, the birds and squirrels abandoned it. Finally, we knew it could no longer be saved and made a called the tree guys to remove it. Today they spent 8 hours taking down its 150' skeletal remains. 

I'm trying to look on the bright side, the west facing rooms will have more light, the front lawn will have less stress, we can replant the dell but all I can see is negative space, a pivotal part of the landscape gone. It's still a shock that it happened so quickly: two months from the first sign to complete failure. All that remains is a stump, a truck load of wood chips and an aching heart. 

Andrew Geller: Deconstructed

As most readers of this blog know The Cool house was designed by iconic modernist architect Andrew Geller, best known for his geometric Long Island beach houses and design work for Raymond Loewy.  Sadly Andrew Geller passed away in 2011 but he left behind a treasure trove of blueprints, photographs and documents that his grandson Jake Gorst has collated and preserved to ensure his grandfather's legacy.

From these sources and the interviews that he recorded over many years, Jake Gorst has lovingly produced a tribute to his grandfather.  Andrew Geller: Deconstructed provides readers with a unique insight into the mind of an artist who over a fifty year career impacted the course of design and architecture.  I received my copy yesterday and it is delightful, full of images never before published. 

Jake is currently promoting the book at a series of events including a book signing on April 13 2015 at 7pm at the Book Revue in Huntington.  Andrew Geller worked throughout the twentieth century mcm design revolution, his architecture can be found from Montauk to Texas and his commercial work took him from the restaurants on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center to Israel.  I can't wait to get my copy signed and listen to Jake share personal anecdotes about "the architect of happiness".  See you there?


Images from Andrew Geller: Deconstructed by Jake Gorst copyright © 2015, published by Glitterati Incorporated www.GlitteratiIncorporated.com