As they looked to the culminating chapter of a vibrant life lived, our clients sought a design that would offer formal elegance appropriate for their intellectual pursuits and need for gracious entertaining. Our solution merged the grand, single-level living space of a French manior and the axial organization found in Edwin Luyten’s U-shaped Tigbourne Court house. Mirroring individual libraries with imposing chimney façades form dramatic blocks framing the house’s front central courtyard that draws the landscape to the house. The central central core contains a broad living and dining room with 12-foot ceilings articulated with deep crown molding and a parallel gallery defined by doric elements that leads to a primary suite on one end and kitchen on the other. In manoir style, a porte-cochere provides circulation access, yet, in a play on Luytens, we set it on the side of the residence to accommodate the challenges of the property lines. Guest rooms for visiting family tucked into the second floor continue manoir spatial arrangement. The cross-axis emphasis of the open front court and refined rear courtyard with its focal exterior fireplace creates a harmonious integration with the landscape, highlighting the restrained grandeur that marks this stately residence.

Photography by Eduardo Galliani