take rare look inside norman jaffe's modernist 'osofsky house' on shelter island, NY

"Newly captured photographs reveal a fresh look inside the Norman Jaffe-designed Osofsky House on Long Island, New York. Well-known for his sculptural beach houses, the modernist architect built the home in 1971 along the coast of Shelter Island, a region whose residential edges were once shaped by experimental postwar architecture. Over the decades, many such houses have been replaced with larger constructions, but during the 1960s and 1970s, Shelter Island offered a different setting."

"The project emerged during a period when Shelter Island supported a quieter form of architectural ambition, visible in modest scale and careful placement rather than display. The house occupies a gently sloping parcel, with living spaces oriented toward water views through bands of glazing. From the exterior, the building presents as a series of stacked planes rather than a single volume. Rooflines remain low and extend outward, tempering light and framing sightlines toward the bay."

The Osofsky House, completed in 1971 for fashion executive Meyer Osofsky, sits along Shelter Island's coast and reflects the island's quieter, less ostentatious architectural character of the 1960s and 1970s. The house reads as a series of stacked planes with low, outward-extending rooflines that temper light and frame bay sightlines. Living spaces are oriented toward water views through continuous bands of glazing and open onto a gently sloping parcel. The approach is indirect, with the entry partially obscured by landscape and structure. Interiors feature continuous materials such as cedar and stone and emphasize seamless connections between inside and coastline.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine