Andrew Geller’s “Double Diamond”

 

Andrew Geller’s Historic “Double Diamond” To Be Moved Tomorrow June 19, 2013

 

Any one who has ever driven or walked by 615 Dune Road in Westhampton Beach has likely been struck by the notion that we are not alone in the universe.  Because on that piece of land lies a structure that would not look out of place being piloted by Captain Kirk or Han Solo.

But the twin cube construction positioned on the thin strip of beach between Moriches Bay and the Atlantic Ocean is no spaceship.  It’s actually Andrew Geller’s iconic architectural marvel known as the “Double Diamond.”

Built in 1959, this “icon of Modernism” stood apart from anything else that had ever been built, and to this day still seems to defy not just convention, but the laws of physics as well.  The two connected rectangular boxes that comprise the design, both turned at 45° angles so that they rest on their points, have managed to stay upright, despite their location in a storm damage zone, and extensive conversations regarding it’s demolition.

Owner Jonathan Pearlroth who felt that the 600 square foot house did not allow for enough room, suggested building additions to the house, but was stymied by laws prohibiting that kind of construction in a storm damage zone.  The house was slated for demolition in 2005.

Pearlroth, however, could not bear the thought of demolishing the beach house that was built specifically for his mother, and has never been out of his family’s ownership.  He enlisted Cook + Fox Architects, Condon Engineering, and general contractors Reinhardt O’Brien, to devise a way to preserve his family’s historic home, and build a separate state-of-the-art house on the same property.

The only way to achieve this rather lofty goal was to physically move the double diamond structure that had literally been buried under wind and wave swept dunes.  And that is precisely what happened.

On June 20^th, 2013, Geller’s idiosyncratic design, which has been featured in architectural digests and books for decades, and has been referred to by some as one of the ten best houses in the Hamptons, found a new home; albeit one only about 30 feet from it’s original location.

 

 

Daniel Meloy  

daniel@reinhardtobrien.com