Summer Camp Is In Session at This Barnlike Weekend Retreat on Long Island

Though fewer than 80 miles from Brooklyn, North Fork on Long Island is worlds away, with farms, rustic barns, and quaint harbors. Here, on a small peninsula facing the Peconic Bay, a young Brooklyn family set out to build a family compound for relaxing, recharging, and connecting with the land.

"They imagined a camp experience, where they and their guests would have their own private spaces," says architect Ted Flato, founding partner of Texas-based firm Lake|Flato. The idea of a camp "holds a connotation that the landscape is the main event," adds David Ericsson, the project’s director, who has since founded his own firm, Pine Bureau. "It’s a more casual atmosphere, and you can have a more raw, unfiltered experience with the land."

The resulting home is a tripartite plan comprising three barnlike, gable structures arranged in a semicircle around an open courtyard. Finished in stained-black Western red cedar, the buildings are stitched into the forested 11-acre site, with the primary structure looking onto the courtyard on one side and taking in water views from the other.

"What struck me when I first visited is the sense of calm that comes from the bay," recalls firm designer Kelly Weckman. "Almost immediately when you get out there, you feel a sense of peace and serenity."