Design: An Estate With A View

Ann and Ken Bialkin never planned to move. They had spent 30 years in a house on Hand's Creek Road that they had built in 1966, and weren't even looking. "The move just happened," Mrs. Bialkin said.

Two years ago a real estate broker friend of their daughter, Lisa, casually mentioned an estate on Mecox Bay with panoramic water views. It had been on the market for some time.

"We saw it and loved it. I always said I'd only move if it were to the water," Mrs. Bialkin said. They bought it fully furnished - house plants and all - and moved right in. And they haven't stopped raving.

Compound Geometry

The Water Mill house was built in 1988 for Richard and Alice Conrad by the Sagaponack architect Kenton E. Van Boer, then put up for sale after Mrs. Conrad's untimely death six years later.

According to Mr. Van Boer, who worked with the architects Norman Jaffe and Eugene Futterman before opening his own design firm, the Conrads hadn't wanted a modern house, nor did they want a strictly traditional one. The plan for the house was modeled after the traditional farm buildings of northern England, but with Mr. Van Boer's particular vision. "I call it a contemporary folk art house," Mr. Van Boer said. "We used very simple materials: stucco exterior, terra cotta floors, and pine ceilings."

"The idea was to assemble a whole compound of different yet connected geometries that were built around a central courtyard," Mr. Van Boer explained. "You leave your car outside, proceed into that inner courtyard and out of the wind, and then proceed to the front door."

Versatile Design

The courtyard, handsomely designed by the North Haven landscape architect Diane Sjoholm, pulls the house together. One enters the inner courtyard under a dense arbor of wisteria, then follows a "forced perspective pathway" to the focal point, a central circle of crab apple stones. There is a semicircle of apple trees planted on one side, and a lush mix of hydrangeas, ilex, magnolias, day lilies, and grasses on the other side.

The house is laid out in three separate sections that together form a "U." While each wing flows easily into the next, each can be closed off, creating privacy not only for the Bialkins but also for their two grown daughters and frequent house guests. Each section has its own heating and air conditioning system.

The Bialkins especially like the sliding doors that seal off the kitchen and dining room from the large living room. "We had 100 people here last week and it wasn't even crowded," Mr. Bialkin said.

"The master bedroom upstairs is what did it for me," Mrs. Bialkin said. Compact and elegant, like a ship's stateroom, the bedroom has three exposures and a spectacular bay window that overlooks Calves Creek. "It's wonderful to come up here early in the morning and see all the animals," Mrs. Bialkin said.

"Everything is incredibly beautiful and practical," she emphasized, pointing out the "his and her" bathrooms, the splendid closets, elaborate phone system and the built-in sound system that she calls "unbelievable. The music goes all over the house - inside and out."

"This house was built with care and love. Practically everything has worked from the very beginning. We just had to learn how to use it," Mrs. Bialkin said. "We still haven't figured out how to work the intercom."

An Extended View

Although exceptional light is a given on the East End, the light in the Bialkin house is truly special. Everything glitters, even the over-the-counter glass shelves in the kitchen and pantry. Yet there is no glare.

"All the light is indirect," explained Mr. Van Boer. "We shaded the direct southern light by recessing windows under roof lines, and balanced it with light from the west. The main front view from the living room picture window is to the west," he noted.

In front of the house, Ms. Sjoholm has "tried to connect feelings of water, the natural wetlands, and the beautiful breezes with the plant material. I used a large variety of grasses and soft wildflowers that bend with the wind," she said. At the Bialkins' request Ms. Sjoholm added a lot of colorful annuals. Because they share part of a lawn with their neighbors to the south, the Bialkins also get an extended view towards the ocean.

Under The Sink

"We now come out all year, which we didn't used to. It's beautiful here in the winter," Mrs. Bialkin said. The living room, dining room, and master bedroom all have fireplaces, which the architect delights in referring to as "inglenooks."

Ecstatic as she and her husband are, Mrs. Bialkin does have one word of advice for prospective buyers: "Look under the kitchen sink and see what's there. Here there were a lot of mosquito repellents of varying types," she chuckled. She said the mosquitoes arrive only when it is very hot, though.

Mr. Bialkin, a corporate and financial and securities lawyer, is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom. He is known for his active role in Jewish affairs. A former national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League, Mr. Bialkin is chairman of the America Israel League and president-elect of the American Jewish Historical Society. Mrs. Bialkin is the founder and president of ELEM, an organization that assists troubled youths in Israel.

Almost Guilty

"The only things I miss from the old place are the trees," said Mr. Bialkin, an avid gardener. In 1966, he purchased 18 acres on Hand's Creek Road, much of which he subsequently sold to his neighbor Jack Lenor Larsen. "I trimmed and moved all the trees, pulled all the vines. I did everything." He brought all his tools to the new house, as well as his beloved tractor, which sits in one of the two garages outside the entry courtyard. A 1950s-vintage red Mercedes convertible sits in the other.

Mr. Bialkin still owns the East Hampton house and five acres of land. "Kenny would have brought the house here if he could have," Mrs. Bialkin said.

"I literally turned psychotic when I had to leave," Mrs. Bialkin confessed. "When I tried to get Lisa to take her horse things to the stable, she said, 'If I can't bring my horse things with me I'm not going to come.' It was very emotional."

Mrs. Bialkin said her husband was almost guilty about leaving the old place. "You know," she explained, "it helped you, it took care of you for so many years. He said this place is like a beautiful new trophy wife!"