The experimental midcentury modern architecture of the Hamptons has long been a source of fascination for many in the design world – including Timothy Godbold, an interior designer based in Southampton, NY. So in the fall of 2019, when he saw an unusual modernist home for sale in town, he was intrigued.
Even more intriguing, it was built in 1973 by Eugene L. Futterman, a name he didn’t recognize.
The 1,700-square-foot house was all angles, with two intersecting, triangular roof planes and a primary bedroom that rose like a periscope in the treetops. But the interior was dated and the weathered cedar exterior had been repaired with mismatched planks, so the house had languished on the market. “It was really quirky, and it was really good value,” said Mr Godbold, 55.
“The moment I saw it, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be a black house,'” he continued. “The shape of the house was so incredible, but the different wood tones were distracting to the eye. Painting it in a solid color brought the architecture together.
The asking price was $925,000, but it offered significantly less, closing in January 2020 for $832,500.
Several months later, Mr. Godbold founded Hamptons 20 Century Modern, an organization dedicated to preserving modern homes in the area. But in his own house he was not bound by the past.
After moving in, he began planning an overhaul of the interior and grounds. His aim: to combine the feel of his architecturally ambitious childhood home in Perth, Australia with the atmosphere of a James Bond movie villain hideout.
“I’ve always been obsessed with James Bond villains,” said Mr. Godbold, citing the movies “Thunderball” and “Moonraker” as sources of inspiration.
“I’m not married. I don’t have a partner who says, ‘No, honey, don’t do that,'” he explained. “It’s just me, so I can do whatever I want.”
Leading up to the house, he designed a series of cantilevered bluestone steps that wind through the garden and are illuminated from below so that they appear to float on the light. They also hide integrated speakers. “I can create any mood I want,” he said. “If I’m throwing a party and want ’70s disco, it’s in the stairs.”
The circular steel fire pit is surrounded by a decking finished in sections of small and large black pebble mosaic – a design based on “the nuclear symbol,” Mr Godbold said, which also reminds him of Charlotte Perriand’s Rio coffee table.
In the living room, he installed a short wall angled so that it looms over a squiggly 1960s sofa upholstered in nubby white wool. On top of the wall is a large planter filled with monstera plants. Below, the existing fireplace has a new profile that is reminiscent of a stepped pyramid.
“It’s based on ‘Moonraker,'” he said. “Remember when he goes to Brazil and he enters the den and there are all the angular walls?”
But the living room isn’t just a tribute to 007. “That’s Paul Rudolph, too,” said Mr. Godbold, naming the revered 20th-century American architect known for his geometric constructions. “He’s one of my idols.”
For light switches and dimmers, Mr. Godbold chose metal rocker switches and knurled buttons from Buster & Punch that seem to be able to activate machine guns or ejection seats.
Of course, few well-funded villains build dens solely for the purpose of orchestrating dastardly deeds. Luxury is usually a priority, and Mr. Godbold made sure he didn’t fall short on that point. In the master bedroom, he placed his bed on a carpeted riser with lighting below and Belgian linen drapery around it, for the feel of a cocoon. He then knocked down a wall to open up the space to his bathroom, where he added Equitone ribbed fiber cement panels to the walls and a bathtub under skylights.
For one of the two guest rooms, he designed a custom stainless steel bed with a smoky gray travertine headboard and a built-in desk at the foot. In the dining room, he created a table by placing a custom terrazzo top on top of a West Elm planter—”a $10,000 stone top on a $400 base.”
Though he spent money on a few special pieces, Mr. Godbold pocketed pennies elsewhere. To keep renovation costs down to about $350,000, he lived in the home during the 18-month project, which he completed last August, and served as his own general contractor.
“I didn’t have a kitchen – just a microwave and paper plates and cups,” he said. “But I did, and it was great.”
He estimates that the house may be worth double what he spent on it. “Nobody wanted this house,” he said. “It had been on the market. But I knew exactly what I was going to do when I saw it.”
If others follow suit, he added, “I hope they have as much fun as I did.”
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