An interview with Stuart Disston and McKee Patterson of Austin Patterson Disston Architects

Photographs by ChiChi Ubiña

Where did you grow up?
Stuart Disston - I grew up in New Jersey and summered in the Hamptons.  There were a lot of old estates in New Jersey that we used to explore and the Hamptons were and still are rich in architectural forms from Victorian shingle to Modern.

McKee Patterson - Fairfield, Connecticut which is steeped in a variety of gracious New England architecture; our property was wooded with brooks where I built bridges and enough land for my father and I to build a cabin.

What influences did you have growing up that made you become an architect?
MP - My father was an institutional and commercial builder with Tomlinson, Hawley, Patterson.  My personal feeling is that design and building is either in your blood or not.

SD - My mother is an artist, as was her mom and her sister.  I have been painting for as long as I can remember.  She used to take me to the Cloisters in NYC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art all the time.  What better place to be influenced by textures than the Hamptons in the late sixties and seventies: Stanford White, Grosvenor Atterbury, Charles Gwathmey, Richard Meier.  The list goes on and on.

Tell us a bit about your business:
SD - We have an office of about 30 people; 24 are in Southport, Connecticut and six are in Quogue, Long Island.  Our work is largely focused on the bespoke residences from the Connecticut River to Montauk.

MP - The firm is predominantly residential, and we feel confident doing a broad spectrum of styles and types: renovations, restorations, additions and new residences.  The broad spectrum of cost and size, project value, and design is what keeps it fresh for us.  The smaller projects are a great way to bring our younger talented people into the process.

What would you consider your design style?
MP - The project’s style is very much keyed in with the clients’ wishes.  The aim for every single job is to do it beautifully, elegantly and with restraint.

SD - I would not say that the firm has a particular “cookie cutter” style.  I can tell you what others have said: our work has an intimate scale, that even our larger houses do not seem imposing and that our interiors work together and are well tailored in their material detail.

How long have you been designing?  Where did you study?
MP - I was fortunate to go to Goddard College during the 70s when the architecture program focus was design/build.  I then did my Masters at Yale.

SD - Since 1982. I went to architectural school right out of high school and studied at Syracuse University School of Architecture.

How do you define “home”?
SD - As I would like to define the best qualities of ourselves: friendly and open, capable of being intimate and well grounded and disciplined to a point, allowing for homeowners to fully enjoy life.

MP – A good house is timeless; it grows with you and grows with the family. 

What are some questions you ask your clients before you begin a project?
MP – We first examine an entire program analysis: how they plan to use various rooms, how they entertain, where they love to spend their time when they are not working on weekends.  We tailor and sculpt the house to them; it’s theirs.

SD - Mostly practical.  Questions such as their program.  I like to see images, and get a broad brush characterization about how they see their lifestyle.

Who are some designers that have influenced your work, and how?
SD - Giulio Romano:  Everyone who has had a difficulty with column spacing for a porch knows he is the master.  Andrea Palladio: He used the sparest kit of parts and got so much out of it with his villas. The Georgians: Christopher Wren, etc.  They invented domestic architecture as we know it.  They assigned function to rooms. Edwin Lutyens:  Intimate and playful.  He didn’t take himself too seriously.  The Shakers:  I like to think of them as the first modernists, spare, a focus on function, with beautiful material use of proportions.

MP - David Sellers at the Goddard program taught me how to think about problems; then of course Edwin Lutyens for his handling of spaces; Sir John Soane for his total sculpting of the spaces and unbelievable use of mirrors, textures, and shapes.   Alvar Aalto for texture, composition and color, and sensitivity to materials.

What are some trends we should look out for in design?
MP - As a rule, stay away from trends.  The dish acting as a sink, sitting on a table will forever be remembered as 2008-09.

SD - Simplification, editing distilling things down to their essentials resource, conservation, especially energy.

Who is your dream client and why?
SD - Someone who loves to explore but is also disciplined.  That’s what building is about, exploration of material possibilities but it takes discipline to get it done right.

MP - A knowledgeable client is the dream client, with a knowledge of design and an understanding of the three dimensional integration of the program.

Austin Patterson Disston Architects
376 Pequot Avenue
Southport, CT  06890
P (203) 255-4031
http://www.apdarchitects.com/