The Gefter-Press House

Dimitrova_3
“What do you get when a filmmaker and an author build a house together?” This may sound like an opening line of a joke, but the Gefter-Press House in Ghent is no laughing matter.

The Gefter-Press House has won oodles of awards and has been featured in Kenneth Frampton’s iconic book, “American Masterworks: Houses of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.” Mostly, though, this house is just plain amazing.

When Richard Press and Philip Gefter chose the Farnsworth House as the inspiration for their new home in the upper Hudson Valley, they knew they were in uncharted territories, but boy was it fun.

Press, who acknowledged that the Illinois home designed by Mies van der Rohe was a serious piece of architecture, emphasized that he and Gefter were “interested in creating a space that was really livable but also artful.” They wanted a home. In fact, they wanted a glass house, in the middle of nature, that was completely relaxing.

Planning began in 2001, with the initial idea to have something “very modest.” However, after commissioning architect Michael Bell to realize their plans and beginning the design phase, the desires to build an awe-inspiring house grew.

Untitled-1

“We kept pushing it,” says Press. “Oh, the checks we were writing! You want to make it what you want it to be.” In the end it took three years from design to construction to finish the project. After completion, the 2,368-square-foot home had three bedrooms, two full baths, a living room, a dining room combination, an office and a partial basement.

Arriving at the home requires passing through luscious fields and a wooded area. Then, the magic really happens. With an all-glass home, the walls become illusions, allowing nature and the home to become one. The structure’s two wings provide an intimate view of both the outside and the rest of the house. It also simultaneously creates an environment that makes this more than an art piece; it makes it a home.

back-of-house-at-nightThough everyone predicted that the couple would be divorced within six months of constructing a home together, Press and Gefter found joy focusing on the project. According to Press, the garage was the only thing that caused any sort of argument. Gefter wanted a glass garage so he’d be able to see his car. “He’d park the thing in the living room if he could,” Press shares, laughing. “I wanted the house to be more sacred.” A compromise was reached: The garage would be placed in the woods, where Gefter could see his car from his office.

While Gefter loved his garage, Press shares that the greatest indulgence of the house in his eyes is the 60-foot-long glass hallway by the bedroom: “Walking through the house is a really, really wonderful experience.”

The couple has mixed feelings leaving the home, which is so close to their hearts, but at the same time, Press is also eager to move on. “I’m ready for the next adventure,” he explains. “We learned so much, and I have it in me to do one more home.”

For more information about this home on the market, visit the official listing.

Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to ASPIRE Metro Magazine

Photography courtesy of Halstead Property, LLC.

No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply

aspire design and home is seeker and storyteller of the sublime in living. It is a global guide to in-depth and varied views of beauty and shelter that stirs imagination; that delights and inspires homeowners as well as art and design doyens. Collaborating with emergent and eminent architects, artisans, designers, developers and tastemakers, aspire creates captivating content that savors the subjects and transports with stunning imagery and clever, thought-provoking writing. Through lush and unique visuals and a fresh editorial lens, aspire explores what is new and undiscovered in art, interiors, design, culture, real estate, travel and more. aspire design and home is an international narrative and resource for all seeking the sublime.