The village of Sagaponack, New York has confirmed to AN that Philip Johnson’s Farney House has been demolished. A Robert A.M. Stern–designed home is expected to rise in its place. Johnson completed the home in 1946, just three years before his world-famous Glass House in New Canaan. The now-disappeared Hamptons home is believed to have inspired that later work.
The demolition does not come as a surprise. In early September, local publication 27East reported that the new owners of the $24 million house were expected to replace it with a Stern-designed structure—and there was little anyone could do about it. According to 27East, Sagaponack’s Architectural and Historic Review Board could not protect the property on legal grounds given the “extensive modifications” it had undergone over the years. Efforts to relocate the home were also unsuccessful.
The Farney House, which was built for a couple of the same name, was originally a single-story, rectangular structure clad in cedar siding. According to the village of Sagaponack, the house was set upon a new foundation in 1975, and then underwent more extreme renovations in 1988: The house’s main floor was expanded by more than 50 percent and the open space below the existing volume was filled-in to create two stories. The house’s original windows windows and siding were also removed. At some unknown point in time, the home’s deck was significantly enlarged as well. The village also noted that a swimming pool was added to the lot in 1981 and a tennis court in 1994.
According to its sales listing, in its final state, the home comprised about 5,000-square-feet and sat upon 3.6 acres of waterfront property.
[h/t Curbed]
