Westenberger House

Architect: Fritz Westenberger (designer)

Year(s) bulit: 1998

WHAT Two-bedroom house on six acres.

WHERE Olive, N.Y., in Ulster County, 100 miles from Midtown Manhattan.

WHO In 1998 Fritz Westenberger and Patrick O’Neill, a couple at the time, bought land with sweeping views of the Ashokan Reservoir. The plan? To build a house in the architectural style of Richard Neutra. Mr. Westenberger, who divides his time between Olive and New Orleans, describes the house that the two friends own together:

I grew up in a 1950s neighborhood in New Orleans. Our house was a modern ranch with walls of glass across the back, and it was designed and built by my dad, even though he was a lawyer. It’s clear to me now that his love of modern design had such a strong influence on me.

So it’s no surprise that when Patrick and I were looking for a house, we were very drawn to classic Modernist architecture. Those houses are few and far between, though. The people who own them tend to hold onto them. So Patrick and I decided to build. And without pretending it was even remotely original, I drafted a design after Richard Neutra.

Our contractor, Hank Star, the go-to guy up here if you’re building something modern, was presented with a challenge. The property drops off very suddenly. Just to build the house, we had to put up a 14-foot-high retaining wall that ran 160 feet across. It looked like the side of a highway. But the reward was a narrow shelf of land perfectly suited to perching the house: a long rectangle of glass with a terrace and pool overlooking the mountains and reservoir.

In the summers I entertain a lot. And when people are here, the atmosphere feels charged — and don’t take this the wrong way — sexy. The pool sparkles. The blue and green views cast a lazy haze. And the terrace comes alive with the summer sounds of people laughing, their reflections dancing in the glass walls of the house.

Maybe people expect all this glass and concrete and aluminum to add up to an emotionally cold space. But it’s very inviting and warm. The hues and textures are neutral. The art is abstract and quiet. And all the furnishings are made with natural materials. In fact, I had a rule: no plastic furniture, no matter how cool or how modern.

My father’s house was lost in Katrina. What remains is our shared appreciation for a well-designed modern home. It matters to me that the first time he came here, he said the house felt warm. And it makes me happy that even when people don’t know my name, they know my house.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/realestate/house-tour-olive-ny.html?ref=richardneutra#