Our annual collection of the Top 50 Coastal Architects celebrates the art, science and spectacle created by the best coastal architects in the world.
Alabama
CHRISTOPHER ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS
Working with a palette of materials and colors appropriate to each space, the designers at Christopher Architecture & Interiors seek to balance the pragmatics of budget and lifestyle with a proportioned and elegant design. MORE >
California
BURDGE & ASSOCIATES
Douglas W. Burdge AIA and his team of designers are recognized for their diverse architectural styles, including Spanish Mediterranean, Traditional, “Rustic-Modern” and cutting-edge Contemporary, from Malibu to Sun Valley to Los Cabos, Mexico. MORE >
KAA DESIGN
At a slim 33 feet wide by 105 feet long, the site in the Sand Section of Manhattan Beach in Southern California posed a dilemma: how could someone possibly build an 8,000-square-foot home there for an active family of five, including three teenagers?
There was a challenge, too, where the site faced the ocean. Nudging right up to it is The Strand, a busy public sidewalk and bike trail where thousands of joggers, walkers, and bikers pass by on a daily basis. Beyond this—across 200 feet of clean, white sand—beckons one of the most sought-after views of the Pacific Ocean. MORE
LANDRY DESIGN GROUP
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Architect Richard Landry moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s to be where the action is. The Montreal native drove down from recession-plagued Alberta without a green card or visa. He promptly landed four job offers within a week, so he got his visa and stuck around. “My timing was good; there was a lot of potential out there,” he says. “Then I was on my own at 30 years of age and I thought: Yeah, I can do this.”
It was an era when postmodernism was all the rage, coast to coast. In 1986, Michael Graves designed his Pantheon-inspired Team Disney building in Burbank, following the debut of Philip Johnson’s 1984 Chippendale-capped AT&T tower in Manhattan. But Landry skipped that kind of history-referencing design. Instead he embraced modernism—and later turned his attention to other portals to the past. MORE >
SB ARCHITECTS
A stylish vacation retreat paired with stunning private residences. MORE >
GEOFF SUMICH DESIGN
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Geoff Sumich’s approach to design is based on the concept of “romantic modernism” where he references and incorporates elements of the past while celebrating the simplicity and minimalism of modern design. MORE >
TICHENOR & THORP
A Mediterranean cruise—especially a stop at the Portuguese coastal town of Sintra—inspired the design of this Orange County, California, home. As it turned out, no one was better suited to turning the owners’ architectural inspiration into reality than their own daughter and her husband. More
Connecticut
CARDELLO ARCHITECTS
Robert A. Cardello Architects is an award winning, high-end design firm creating beautiful spaces, locally and around the country. We work both residential and commercial projects, with a specialty in fine home design. MORE >
CHARLES HILTON ARCHITECTS
To see a dazzling transformation of wood into exquisite artful form, look no further than this handsome family home perched on a point overlooking Long Island Sound in Riverside, Conn. The classic Shingle Style residence, designed by Charles Hilton of Charles Hilton Architects in nearby Greenwich, changes simple, straightforward wood into an ethereal showstopper. MORE >
ROGER FERRIS + PARTNERS
Roger Ferris + Partners is a renowned architectural firm practicing architecture, interior design and master-planning services for private and public sectors. With offices in Westport, Conn., New York City and Bridgehampton, N.Y., the firm’s approach to design and its passion for diverse and challenging projects is enhanced by the ability to cross-pollinate design skills among building typologies. MORE >
SHOPE RENO WHARTON
SRW opened its doors in 1981, working on small residential and light commercial projects. Through hard work, determination and a love of our craft, our work has grown to include a portfolio of houses, equestrian centers, golf clubhouses, schools, museums, and libraries. MORE >
DOUGLAS VANDERHORN ARCHITECTS
Douglas VanderHorn Architects is a classically-focused architecture firm specializing in residential design. Drawing on an accomplished career spanning three-decades, Douglas VanderHorn creates each new home with inspiration from the rich architectural traditions of the past and seamlessly incorporates innovative building technologies, modern conveniences, and tailor-made features. MORE >
Florida
BRILLHART ARCHITECTURE
Miami-based Brillhart Architecture is borne out of a love for and facility with “making” things. In the natural course of development, tectonics, materiality and the logic of construction have become a primary focus of interest. MORE >
CHOEFF LEVY FISCHMAN
Leading architects Choeff Levy Fischman create a stunning contemporary home on the Venetian Islands in Miami. MORE >
STRANG ARCHITECTURE
Award-winning architect Max Strang designs a striking contemporary home in Coconut Grove, just south of Miami, with beautiful views of a private canal and Biscayne Bay. MORE >
GUY PETERSON
A modernist in his approach to architecture and design, Guy Peterson speaks a language of honesty and simplicity. He calls his work poetic and human, saying that it evokes emotions and comes from the heart. Through light, shadow, color, and indigenous materials, he creates an aesthetic that’s clean, sustainable, and aimed at delight. MORE >
REX NICHOLS ARCHITECTS
Rex Nichols Architects has been established for more than 30 years and is dedicated to the design of high quality residential and commercial projects and specializes in waterfront properties. MORE >
SILBERSTEIN ARCHITECTURE
Silberstein Architecture was founded by Jeffrey Silberstein, AIA in 1989 and specializes in modern residential architecture. MORE >
SDH_STUDIO
Venezuela-born architect Stephanie Halfen moved to Miami in 2009 – and never looked back. Educated at Universidad Símon Bolívar in Caracas, she earned an additional degree from New York’s Parsons School of Design. She’d been teaching in Venezuela and thought she’d teach when she moved to South Florida. But then she dove into Miami’s real estate market, bought some land with her husband and designed a home for them to live in with their three children. More
Georgia
HARRISON DESIGN
With four offices on or near the eastern seaboard, Harrison Design creates beautiful Atlantic coastal homes from Maine to Key West. MORE >
Hawaii
DE REUS
Hawaii’s de Reus Architects. MORE >
Massachusetts
PATRICK AHEARN ARCHITECT
I’m here to meet Patrick Ahearn, one of New England’s most renowned and prolific residential architects, and see the very personal and private retreat that he has built for Marsha, his wife of 28 years, their five adult children and baby granddaughter. MORE >
MOREHOUSE MACDONALD AND ASSOCIATES
Morehouse MacDonald & Associates (MMA) proves that smaller firms can compete with national firms. This 60 year old architecture and interiors firm has an award winning history of designing custom homes in the Greater Boston, Cape and Islands area of Massachusetts. Recently MMA expanded their impressive coastal and island portfolio to include residences in South Carolina, Florida and the Caribbean. MORE >
NICHOLAEFF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN
Doreve Nicholaeff embraces “bold.” Whether she’s ramping up a home’s geometry with curves or straight lines or reawakening stalwart New England traditions with modern tenets, she abstracts from the past to create the new. MORE >
POLHEMUS SAVERY DASILVIA ARCHITECTS
Broad flat columns, big overhangs, crisp triangular roof shapes, window sizes ranging from extra small to extra large, fat window muntins, and a flaring copper chimney cap give Sundowner a happy, iconic character of “home” that a child’s drawing might evoke. MORE
New York
AUSTIN PATTERSON DISSTON
Situated on a secluded lot in Quogue and offering views of the bay from its rooftop terrace, this new modern house is composed of a series of stacked rectangular volumes that loosely form an L-shape. MORE >
BARNES COY ARCHITECTS
A particularly persistent myth concerning coastal architecture is the need for huge terraces and many balconies facing the water. MORE >
BLAZE MAKOID
To Blaze Makoid, an architect based in Bridgehampton, NY, designing a statement home for clients is not a matter of how they live. “It’s how they want to live,” he says. MORE >
DEBORAH BERKE PARTNERS
Back in the late 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, if you wanted a snappy, geometric gem of a house in the Hamptons, there was one architect to call.
His name was Charles Gwathmey, and he was one of the cutting-edge modernists known as the New York Five. He’d no sooner graduated from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 than he designed a house for his parents in Amagansett—one that brought him international attention and raised the bar for residential design everywhere. His New York firm, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, was legendary for its crisp interpretation of modern design.
Today, if you’re looking for a compelling home in the Hamptons, there’s a new go-to gang of designers to consider. They’re also based in New York, and they too have strong connections to Yale. In fact, Deborah Berke, the leader of this 60-person firm was anointed dean of the Yale School of Architecture last year and is the first woman to occupy the position. MORE >
FAIRFAX & SAMMONS
Out on the east end of Long Island, N.Y., above a challenging patch of land overlooking Little Peconic Creek, stands a modest cedar-shingled Cape Cod cottage in the 18th century style. This one, however, is a newcomer. MORE >
ALLAN GREENBERG ARCHITECT
Allan Greenberg Architect, LLC was established in 1972 and has offices in New York, New York and Alexandria, Virginia. The firm has an international reputation for combining contemporary construction techniques with the best architectural traditions to create solutions that are both timeless and technologically progressive. MORE >
ALEXANDER GORLIN ARCHITECTS
It’s a modern riff on a classical theme. In the bucolic setting of the Hamptons, on New York’s Long Island, architect Alexander Gorlin has designed a beach house that invokes Janus – that ancient dual-faced Roman deity – as he deftly responded to a site with panoramic views of both sunrise and sunset. MORE >
STEVEN HARRIS ARCHITECTS
Steven Harris Architects is an award winning design firm with extensive and varied experience in both public and private commissions. The office takes a collaborative approach to design, fostering an open exchange of ideas both within the firm and with clients. MORE >
IKE KLIGERMAN BARKLEY
If the mastery of a great ocean home is measured by its sense of anticipation, this exceptional vacation retreat in the coastal enclave of Watch Hill, Rhode Island, succeeds on every level. MORE >
PETER PENNOYER ARCHITECTS
Peter Pennoyer Architects (PPA) is an award-winning practice in traditional architecture and is widely recognized as a leader in classicism and historic preservation. Based in Manhattan and with an office in Miami, the firm has built a substantial and varied body of work across the United States and abroad for residential, commercial, and institutional commissions often involving historic buildings. MORE >
MARTIN ARCHITECTS
Established in 1998, Martin Architects provides licensed architectural services, interior design, furniture design, House and site evaluating and Master planning. The team offers the skills and experience of a large firm, while providing the personal service, motivation, and responsiveness associated with a boutique practice.
Working on modernist projects to historic, MA specializes in high-end residential, commercial and institutional design. Projects have been undertaken throughout New York State-including the Hamptons and New York City-as well as Connecticut, New Jersey, Baltimore, Costa Rica, Portugal and the Caribbean. MORE >
STELLE LOMONT ROUHANI
We strive to create a rewarding design and building experience for our clients. Each project is unique and a response to the client’s program, budget, schedule and site. MORE >
ROBERT A.M. STERN ARCHITECTS
Robert A.M. Stern Architects is a 300-person firm of architects, interior designers, and supporting staff. Over its five-decade history, the firm has established an international reputation as a leading design firm with wide experience in residential, commercial and institutional work. MORE >
WORKSHOP/APD
Out on Madaket Beach on the western end of Nantucket, there’s no shortage of design restrictions, to be sure. But in designing a family’s summer retreat there, architect Andrew Kotchen, a partner in New York’s Workshop/APD, responded deftly to them all. MORE
RESOLUTION: 4 ARCHITECTURE
“We showed up and watched all four get set and tied together,” says owner Scott Lawin, an M.I.T.-trained architect turned financier from New York. Finishing touches were completed over the next few months.
Lawin studied modern design and building techniques in school, so when it came time to design his Dune Road beach house, he turned to Resolution: 4 Architecture (RES4) in New York. “Other firms were doing modular work, but they (RES4) were far and away at the head of the pack,” he says. “From a design and aesthetic perspective, it kind of clicked with the way we saw the world.” MORE >
Pennsylvania
BOHLIN CYWINSKI JACKSON (with offices also in WA, CA and NY)
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) is noted for elegant and humane design, ranging from modest houses to large academic, civic, cultural, commercial, and corporate buildings. MORE >
South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER ROSE ARCHITECTS
Christopher Rose Architects is a small, collaborative design firm focusing on detail, clarity, tradition and innovation. Comprised of a few individuals who have worked together for many years, the firm brings a wide variety of expertise and knowledge to every project. MORE >
Texas
Caribbean
OBM INTERNATIONAL
OBMI is a global master planning, architecture, and design firm with an experienced team of professionals who are passionate about creating timeless spaces that transform the dreams of their clients into reality. They design luxury resorts and hotels, high-end private residences, and engaging urban areas that reflect the utmost respect for the land, people, and cultures they will impact. Architectural planning and design is in their DNA, but they are more than their day job. They are travelers, sculptors, photographers and mountain climbers, and their work inside the office reflects their adventurous, creative approach to life outside of it. For more than 80 years, clients have embraced OBMI as trusted advisors for their tireless dedication and commitment to exceptional, beautiful design. MORE >
R.A. SHAW DESIGNS
Since 1998, R.A Shaw Designs has mastered the art of building dreams and bringing imaginations to life. Based in Turks and Caicos, the firm specializes in the design and craft of luxury residences that capture the essence of open tropical living. MORE >
Pacific Northwest
CUTLER ANDERSON ARCHITECTS
When renowned architect Jim Cutler is at his best, he responds to two givens for any residential design: environmental circumstance and how his clients live. At Ohana House, on the north coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, he has interpreted both with exquisite attention to detail. MORE >
OLSON KUNDIG ARCHITECTS
As if the winds at Slaughterhouse Beach on Maui’s dramatic northwest coastline aren’t frisky enough already, renowned architect Tom Kundig has turbocharged them in his design for a spectacular home overlooking this legendary surfing spot. MORE >