Summer 2014
Simple Luxuries
A Town House Terrace—Plus a Great New Place for Coffee
At Best & Company, we know that true luxury and simplicity are often partners—especially in the sultry months of summer, when Mother Nature generously serves up all the ingredients you need for great R&R with minimal embellishment from we humans. The caveat: The “simpler” design gets, the higher quality the materials and construction need to be. Two of our favorite summer projects prove the rule: a town house terrace in Sag Harbor and a industrial-chic coffee shop, The Mill, in Long Island City.
In summer and always, great design and quality construction make life better.
Simple as that.
A Town House Terrace in the Hamptons
Heading to the Hamptons this month? Don’t miss your opportunity to tour the 2014 Holiday House Hamptons, presented by Hamptons Cottages & Gardens magazine. Sixteen top designers have created fantasy environments in the long-vacant circa 1881 Bulova Watchcase factory on Sag Harbor, which is being converted into 64 condominium residences (hence, all those exciting “new window” tags you see on the windows,” here…hey, we’re contractors…we love that stuff).
The venerable red-brick factory building, located at 15 Church Street, just off Sag Harbor’s picturesque Main Street, has been reimagined by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects as a “village within a village,” a community of industrial-era lofts, penthouse apartments, and town houses—many with terraces overlooking the beach and bay. “Among those on the waiting list,” reported The New York Times last spring, “are owners of multimillion-dollar Hamptons mansions, including empty-nesters looking for something easier to take care of, without the need for a staff, pool guys and gardeners.”
For the 2014 Holiday House Hamptons designer show house, a benefit for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Best & Company’s fabrication and installation teams were proud to work with design and lifestyle expert Dale Cohen, founder of bachelorbydale and the dalecohendesignstudio, to create a terrace lounge for casual entertaining. The L-shape terrace lends itself to multiple seating areas, but there’s no room for a real dining table, Dale noted. “So we created a bar area for eating and drinking—all the better for summer lounging and entertaining for my bachelor clients,” she says.
Dale’s inventive concept for the space, located in the heart of the complex, was ingeniously simple: an outdoor lounge and pizza kitchen (from Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet), which revolves around a suite of custom walnut bar counters and bench seating, the work of Best & Company.
A floating counter connects the clean-lined custom tables with cut-out legs and floating glass shelves with storage and display area for a striking collection of troughs and planters filled with white orchids, grasses, succulents, fragrant lavender, and bay trees from the Laurel Group. Add a Shademaker Sirius cantilevered umbrella, Sifas lounge seating (provided by Walters), and the makings for festive seasonal cocktails, and you’ve got all you need for the perfect summer day transitioning into the perfect summer night.
Holiday House Hamptons is on view to the public daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., until September 1: You can get your tickets here.
Come for Coffee: The Mill Has Long Island City Buzzing
Sometimes all you really want is a great cup of coffee—or maybe an ice-cold latte. That was a frustratingly complicated order to fill in the Long Island City neighborhood in which Best & Company’s business offices and custom millwork shops are located…until company founder Chip Brian, his wife, Nina Sisselman (shown below), and business partner Mike Daddio decided to open up a coffee shop right in the corner space of the building that houses our business teams, a stone’s throw from our local park and playground, MoMA’s PS 1, The Cliffs, The Chain theatre, and historic Hunter’s Point, one of the most picturesque blocks of brownstones in New York City.
Working with the talented interior design team at Neue Atelier, a multifaceted design collaborative housed on the first level of our LIC building, our general contracting teams worked with Nina, as creative director, to transform the vacant corner space into The Mill, an industrial-chic coffee shop where neighbors and visitors in this rapidly transforming residential, business, and cultural district can satisfy their craving for superior coffee in style.
The Mill offers its own custom blend of Brazilian coffees, plus a dark roast blend of coffees from Guatamala, Tanzania, and Sumatra, all drip brewed. In addition, there will be espresso-based drinks, as well as cold brewed and regular brewed iced coffee, water, juices, and sodas. Nina worked with Jack’s Stir Brew and Amy’s Bread—local businesses with a loyal New York following—to develop The Mill’s exclusive line of muffins and other baked goods, including organic and vegan specialties.
Stop by soon to say hello and see how The Mill already has one of the City’s fastest growing business, residential, and cultural neighborhoods buzzing.