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By BRUCE LAMBERT
Published: May 6, 2005 for NYT
As soon as it was built in 1959, the beach house at 615 Dune Road in Westhampton Beach caused passers-by to stop in their tracks.
"The house stood out like a spaceship that landed on Dune Road, so it was quite an attraction," said Jonathan S. Pearlroth, who inherited the house.
Its unusual "double-diamond" geometric design, with two adjoining rectangular boxes tilted on their edges, quickly became an icon of modernism and was featured in magazines and books.
But the Pearlroth family eventually reached the reluctant conclusion that the double diamonds would have to go. It needed more room, Mr. Pearlroth said; old additions needed replacing and new laws barred expanding the original structure because it is in a storm damage zone. So the family hired an architect to design a larger replacement house and is ready to clear the site as early as May 15.
Hoping to rescue the house, preservationists are campaigning to move it to a new site, restore the original condition and transform it into an architecture museum.
"We're racing against the clock, trying to get the funding just to do the move," said Jake G. Gorst, the grandson of the house's architect, Andrew M. Geller.
Over the decades, the house had gradually faded from sight. Despite the beachfront locale, wind and waves built up the dunes so much that the house lost its prominence and even its ocean view. "It was buried," Mr. Pearlroth said.
Neighboring houses sprouted, and it was further hidden when the Pearlroth family expanded its living space by building decks and bedrooms around the original structure, which is just 600 square feet.
If preservationists succeed in salvaging the house, they can thank a series of lucky breaks.
Mr. Gorst, a filmmaker who was working on a documentary about his grandfather, interviewed Mr. Pearlroth in February. It was then that the owner sadly explained his demolition plans.
"We have such sentimental ties to the house - I loved it - it was painful for us to think we would knock it down," Mr. Pearlroth said this week.
The plan caught Mr. Gorst by surprise. But as they talked, a new idea suddenly dawned on Mr. Pearlroth.
"It was like a light went off in my brain," Mr. Pearlroth. "I said, 'Jake, please take the house if you can save it and do something with - it's yours.' "
Mr. Gorst leapt at the challenge, becoming part of the story he was filming. He spoke to Exhibitions International, a nonprofit group in Manhattan promoting 20th-century architecture, which agreed to raise money. Organizers figure they need $50,000 to move the house and $150,000 for restoration.
"It's coming in dribs and drabs so far," said the group's director, David L. Shearer. "We have a long way to go. The problem is the house is not 100 or 200 years old. People don't always appreciate the historic significance and need to preserve modern architecture."
The first hurdle is raising various utility cables so that the house can be slipped underneath. Cablevision has agreed to charge no fee, the organizers said, and they are in talks with the Long Island Power Authority and Verizon about their lines.
If the house can be moved, the next issue is where to put it - especially since vacant waterfront property in the Hamptons is almost as scarce as double-diamond houses and commands princely sums.
Once again, fate is intervening. As word of the fledgling campaign spread, an advocate in the American Institute of Architects, Anne R. Surchin of Sag Harbor, took up the cause.
"All the modern houses are being torn down left and right, and some are real classics," she said in an interview. "Sometimes you don't find out they're in danger till you see the bulldozers."
Linda A. Kabot, a member of the Southampton Town Council, said that after Ms. Surchin "sent me a frantic e-mail" she conferred with a fellow Council member, Steve Kenny. He suggested offering a site on the bay side of Pikes Beach park, a mile down the road.
Next Tuesday, the Town Board will hold a hearing on that proposal. The sponsors expect approval that day, to beat the move-it-or-lose-it deadline.
In one of many endorsements for the hearing, an architecture historian, Alastair Gordon, praised the house as "one of the most important examples of experimental design built during the postwar period not just on Long Island but anywhere in the United States." He called it "witty, bold and inventive."
With the proposed site surrounded by open space and the house to be elevated on stilts to prevent damage from stormy seas, the setting would recreate the original look of 1959, proponents say.
"It could be a wonderful architectural and navigators' landmark," Mr. Kenny said. "Perched high, almost like a work of art on a pedestal, the view looking out over the bay is going to be spectacular."
Mr. Geller, whose résumé includes work on the Lever Building interior, Windows on the World and Lord & Taylor's logo, recalled the Pearlroth house as "a one-of-a-kind" project that he did for fun.
Mr. Pearlroth's mother, Mitch, recruited the architect after reading about another house he designed. Mr. Geller said he studied the site and the family's living habits "previous to any doodling on paper."
Because the Pearlroths lived in New York City, Mr. Geller designed their beach house "to escape from the cell-like appearance of an apartment, to stay clear of four walls." The high-peaked ceilings also invoked the feel of an American Indian tent, he said.
The whimsical house inspired nicknames to match, including the Square Bra, the Box Kite, the Cat, the Milk Carton and the Reclining Picasso.
At 81, Mr. Geller said he was grateful for the effort to save the house. "I'm flattered," he said, "and I'm just thrilled."
jonathan s pearlroth sounds like a total load :
"It was like a light went off in my brain," Mr. Pearlroth. "I said, 'Jake, please take the house if you can save it and do something with - it's yours.' "a light just went of in my brain, let (inheritance-boy) pearlroth pay to move it. creep!
ps: would it kill the nyt and curbed to point out what a sleezy move this is?