Nyack Retreat
New York, USA
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Set on a narrow site just an hour from the city, this retreat was designed for a pair of collectors seeking a quiet counterpoint to urban life. The architecture responds with restraint, favoring clarity over expression, and cultivating stillness through calibrated form.
Wrapped in grey-brown Accoya siding that will gently patina with time, the house holds a muted presence—reserved toward the street, expansive toward views of the Hudson River. Its internal organization is shaped not by excess but by the desire for ease—wide, column-free spans enabled by 29-foot wood trusses create open, uninterrupted rooms where objects and light can coexist in quiet dialogue.
A stepped floor strategy allows for generous interior volumes within strict height limits, while carefully placed openings frame light and landscape without excess. The result is a home that holds space for pause and reflection—a place not only to house objects, but to dwell in stillness.
Builder: Seth Glasser & Co. Photography: Alice Gao