This mid-century modern house on Shelter Island is, as they say, legendary.
The Snyder House was originally built in 1952 for John Snyder, the CEO of the Pressed Steel Car Company.
Designed by the architect Bertrand Goldberg, who also designed a plywood boxcar that Snyder’s company manufactured, called the Unicel freight cars. As well as Unishelter homes, a self-contained, portable housing unit that used the same material –an early version of a modular home.
For the Snyder House, according to Goldberg’s website, he used prefab components from the Unishelter program,
As a student in the Bauhaus in the early 1930s, Goldberg discovered the possibilities of a creative relationship between the industrial process and the design industry.
The prefabricated units, complete with bathroom, kitchen, plumbing and HVAC, were fabricated in Chicago, shipped by rail, then by boat, and finally assembled on Shelter Island.
The prefabricated elements were built of naturally finished mahogany plywood, which gave the exterior a dramatic sheen.”
The focal point of the house was a porch, guest room, bath and glassed observation area that forms
the dramatic cantilever, composed of the prefabricated units, which jutted out over Long Island Sound.”
The man-made beachfront was where seaplanes originally brought people from New York City to see what was called the “demonstration house.”
In 2002, new owners completely rebuilt the entire home in its original footprint (minus the coolest part),
maintaining the elements of its mid-century modernist design while sparing no expense to bring this 20th-century masterpiece up to 21st-century living standards of ultimate comfort and high-end quality.”
The renovation/rebuild also added a storm barrier all across the beachfront, because –climate change.
The 6,000-square-foot home sits on 3.4 acres & includes;
- a covered stone walkway to the entry
- massive living room with views of West Neck Harbor
- original stone, 2-sided fireplace with 8 flues
- stone floors throughout
- wrap-around deck
- large chef’s kitchen
- den with a water view
- five bedrooms
- primary bedroom suite
- four bathrooms
- 2-car garage
- 74-foot long saltwater, gunite pool facing Dickerson Creek
- 235-foot deepwater dock into West Neck Harbor
Sag Harbor Village is in one direction, towards Little Peconic Bay and Robin’s Island in another or you can take the boat out around Shelter Island to Greenport.
Originally listed for $14.95 million, it just sold for$12.95 million. Have a look around…
(Photos, Sotheby’s, Bertrand Goldberg Archives; via Behind The Hedges)
