Millbrook Residence
Dutchess County, NY
Site-Built Construction
Size:
7,565 sf Main House | 1,440 sf Pool House/Garage
Bedrooms:
4
Bathrooms:
5 Full / 3 Half / 1 Pool Bath
Completion Date:
2020
Located in Dutchess County, New York in the southern region of the Taconic Mountains, this hilltop residence is designed for long views of the valley below and surrounding horse pastures, meadows, mountain vistas and nearby forest preserve.
RESOLUTION: 4 ARCHITECTURE designed Millbrook Residence as a summer estate for an avid polo player and his family to enjoy the 165-acre property upon which he built his own private polo field and horse stables. The project consists of a 7,500 square foot main residence, pool house, and infinity pool. The architecture is anchored to the site with extensive landscaping designed by Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture. Interiors are elegantly and meticulously furnished by interior designer Selina Van Der Geest.
In response to the owner’s directive to maximize glazing areas, the architects collaborated with a specialized European minimal-frame window manufacturer based in Switzerland to fabricate oversized, precision-engineered custom windows with maximum sightlines. Individual glass panels measure as large as 9 feet high by 16 feet wide, comprising continuous units as long as 70 feet with mere 1-1/2" wide mullions between individual panels.
Programmatically, the main level is divided into two wings, bisected by a dominant landscaping axis leading to the main entry deck and foyer through a glass pivot door. One wing is dedicated to service functions, including a professional chef's kitchen, butler’s pantry, mudroom, guest powder room, and staff powder room. The opposite wing consists of a great room featuring an extensive library wall with rolling ladder. An adjacent wood-burning fireplace is surrounded by black steel wall cladding. Along the backside of the library wall is a linear art gallery, also clad in black steel. Adjoining the great room is a media room with its own wood-burning fireplace and black steel surround. Here, a hideaway office nook is concealed behind a sliding barn door clad with hundreds of oval-shaped brass sequins. Other main level spaces include a playroom, exercise room, yoga deck, and wraparound stone terrace.
The main stairs turn at a cantilevered landing prominently projecting from the facade, surrounded by double-height glass. The stairs are a dramatic connection between the main level entertaining spaces and the second-floor breezeway which spills onto the covered roof deck, further expanding the capacity to host large social gatherings with a variety of interior and exterior spaces. This roof deck—shaded beneath wood trellises and capturing distant views of the valley beyond—features a full bar, dining space, and lounge area facing an outdoor wood-burning fireplace.
The breezeway and roof deck separate three guest suites from the primary suite on opposite ends of the house. The primary suite is a luxurious haven, featuring a large bedroom with yet another wood-burning fireplace and expansive corner windows, as well as two separate his and her bathrooms. His bathroom features a freestanding bathtub set against a full expanse of glass with nothing but the landscape visible beyond. A secluded outdoor shower is accessed from the tub zone through a pocketing sliding glass door. Her bathroom features a stone-clad, spa-inspired shower with double wall-mounted showerheads and a deluge-producing ceiling-mounted rain shower. Her dressing room includes an island dresser surrounded by built-in millwork and a makeup vanity. A meditative sitting room containing a gas fireplace sits adjacent to her dressing room.
The pool house has its own full kitchen, lounge space, and powder room. Jutting into the landscape is an outdoor dining terrace, shaded beneath a wood trellis. A wood deck runs the length of the pool for sunbathing. An outdoor shower and spa sit at opposite ends of this pool deck. The infinity pool has vanishing edges on its two open sides to further reinforce connection to the valley views. Connected to the pool house is a three-car garage and auto court. A continuous canopy punctured by open trellises encircles the building.
The landscaping design takes a minimal approach. Terraces and plantings are designed as a visual extension of the architectural features, with walls of stone and weathered steel referencing the broader agrarian landscape. Orthogonal geometry near the house transitions to natural meadows restored with native species to integrate the residence into the surrounding pasture. Farther from the house, horse paddocks and a vegetable garden utilize the gently sloping hillside.
Architecture Resolution: 4 Architecture
Landscape Architecture Wagner Hodgson
Interior Design Selina Van Der Geest | NL-GB
Structural & Civil Engineering Rennia Engineering Design
Construction Structure Works Construction
Photography Millicent Harvey Photography & Resolution: 4 Architecture
