The modern ranch at 400 Whitfield Road in Accord, now up for sale through Berkshire Hathaway Hudson Valley, is all about economy. In other words, its more unpresumptuous aspects—the untextured white exterior, jet-black metal roof, and unfinished wood joists, for example—channel attention to worthier visual domains, namely the residents’ furniture and artwork; surfaces of marble, stone, and walnut; peripheral greenery; and lighting fixtures a la late designer Isamu Noguchi.
The home’s exterior sits low in the landscape, manifesting as a subtle assemblage of parallel lines. The front façade is framed by trees, which grow up a grassy hill to the left of the home; floral shrubs mingle along a narrow front stoop and walkway, leading to a garage and entryway on the right end of the structure. The expansive gravel driveway offers plenty of parking space for visitors.
Around back, a 2000-square-foot deck envelops the heated, in-ground pool, connecting the home to its backyard shrouded in flora. Despite the natural partitions suggested by the verdure, the property at 400 Whitfield Road extends over 10 acres.
From the back deck, residents can enter through sliding glass doors into the home’s central hub. This space, defined (or, perhaps more appropriately, undefined) by an open floor plan, marries the kitchen and living room as one large nexus, allowing residents to attend to the needs of dinner party guests without fettering the flow of conversation. To be sure, this modern ranch is made for an individual or family who frequently hosts; it is spacious, yet not so much as to alienate inhabitants from one another.
Afront the wood-burning fireplace—a stately little number framed by a wall of stone—hangs the paper lamp for which Isamu Noguchi was famous. Inspired by a visit to the town of Gifu, Japan, which was “known for its manufacture of lanterns and umbrellas from mulberry bark paper and bamboo,” the American designer began to produce these fixtures himself. He called them “Akari,” “meaning light as illumination, but also implying the idea of weightlessness.”
Indeed, the lamp does suggest a certain weightlessness, especially in contrast with the room’s hardier materials such as the custom walnut cabinets and Black Forest granite countertops found in the kitchen area. Paper lamps appear elsewhere in the house, lending light to a sitting nook and the master bedroom, both of which already receive a generous blaze of natural incandescence.
In contrast to the common area, the master bedroom—one of three in the home, all of which have sloped ceilings—is the perfect private retreat. Its predominant quality is brightness, with two large windows that rise from a floor of oak, connecting inhabitants to their surrounding environment.
The home’s three bathrooms are sleek and unapologetically modern, with heated porcelain floors, floating countertops, and spherical lighting fixtures (similar in shape, but not material or size, to the aforementioned “Akari”). Additionally, the master bath boasts a double sink, deep soaking tub, and walk-in steam shower.
Asking price: $1,950,000
Selling points: Given its extra bedroom and basement, there is no shortage of storage space at 400 Whitfield Road. The modern ranch joins luxurious features like its in-ground heated pool, fireplace, soaking tub, steam shower, and gorgeous kitchen with 10 acres of lush Ulster County wilderness. The property is less than 10 minutes away from Accord and Stone Ridge, and just two hours from New York City.
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