Within the Hamptons, a Trendy Residence Match for a Bond Villain

The experimental midcentury-modern structure of the Hamptons has lengthy been a supply of fascination to many within the design world — together with Timothy Godbold, an inside designer primarily based in Southampton, N.Y. So within the fall of 2019, when he seen an uncommon modernist home on the town listed on the market, he was intrigued.

Extra intriguing nonetheless: It was in-built 1973 by Eugene L. Futterman, a reputation he didn’t acknowledge.

The 1,700-square-foot house was all angles, with two intersecting, triangular roof planes and a major bed room that rose into the treetops like a periscope. However the inside was dated and the weathered-cedar exterior had been repaired with mismatched boards, so the home had languished in the marketplace. “It was actually quirky, and it was a extremely good worth,” Mr. Godbold, 55, mentioned.

“The minute I noticed it, I believed, ‘Oh, that is going to be a black home,’” he continued. “The form of the home was so unbelievable, however the totally different shades of wooden have been distracting to the attention. Portray it a strong coloration introduced the structure collectively.”

The asking worth was $925,000, however he provided considerably much less and closed for $832,500 in January 2020.

A number of months later, Mr. Godbold established Hamptons 20 Century Trendy, a company devoted to preserving fashionable homes within the space. However in his own residence, he wasn’t beholden to the previous.

After transferring in, he started planning an overhaul of the inside and the grounds. His aim: to mix the sensation of his architecturally formidable childhood house in Perth, Australia, with the vibe of a villain’s hide-out from a James Bond film.

“I’ve at all times been obsessive about James Bond villain lairs,” Mr. Godbold mentioned, citing the films “Thunderball” and “Moonraker” as sources of inspiration.

“I’m not married. I don’t have a companion saying, ‘No, honey, don’t do this,’” he defined. “It’s simply me, so I can do no matter I would like.”

Main as much as the home, he designed a sequence of cantilevered bluestone steps that wind via the backyard and are lit from beneath, so they seem to hover on gentle. Additionally, they conceal built-in audio system. “I can create no matter temper I would like,” he mentioned. “If I’m having a celebration and need ’70s disco, it’ll be within the staircase.”

The spherical metal firepit is ringed by a terrace completed in sections of small and huge black-pebble mosaic — a design primarily based on “the nuclear image,” Mr. Godbold mentioned, which additionally reminds him of Charlotte Perriand’s Rio espresso desk.

In the lounge, he put in a brief wall that’s angled so it looms over a snaking Sixties sectional couch upholstered in nubby white wool. A big planter full of monstera vegetation sits atop the wall. Beneath, the present hearth has a brand new profile recalling a stepped pyramid.

“It’s primarily based on ‘Moonraker,’” he mentioned. “Keep in mind when he goes to Brazil and he’s coming into the lair and there are all of the angular partitions?”

However the lounge isn’t a homage simply to 007. “That’s additionally Paul Rudolph,” Mr. Godbold mentioned, naming the revered Twentieth-century American architect recognized for his geometric constructions. “He’s certainly one of my idols.”

For gentle switches and dimmers, Mr. Godbold selected metallic toggle switches and knurled knobs from Buster & Punch that look able to triggering machine weapons or ejector seats.

After all, few well-funded villains construct lairs solely for the aim of orchestrating dastardly deeds. Luxurious is normally a precedence, and Mr. Godbold made certain to not fall brief on that depend. Within the major bed room, he positioned his mattress on a carpeted riser with lighting beneath it and Belgian linen material surrounding it, for the sensation of a cocoon. Then he knocked down a wall to open the area to his rest room, the place he added ribbed fibrous cement panels from Equitone to the partitions and a soaking tub set beneath skylights.

For one of many two visitor rooms, he designed a customized stainless-steel mattress with a smoky grey travertine headboard and a built-in desk because the footboard. Within the eating room, he created a desk by putting a customized terrazzo prime on a planter from West Elm — “a $10,000 stone prime on a $400 base.”

Though he splurged on a number of particular items, Mr. Godbold pinched pennies elsewhere. To maintain renovation prices right down to about $350,000, he lived in the home through the 18-month venture, which he accomplished final August, and served as his personal common contractor.

“I had no kitchen — only a microwave and paper plates and cups,” he mentioned. “However I did it, and it was nice.”

He estimates the home could also be value twice what he spent on it. “Nobody needed this home,” he mentioned. “It had been sitting in the marketplace. However I knew precisely what I used to be going to do after I noticed it.”

If others observe his instance, he added, “I hope they’ve as a lot enjoyable as I did.”

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