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Pines Modern is a brand-new, non-profit 501(c)(3) endeavor dedicated to the rediscovery of all that the Pines has created, particularly its mid-century architectural and cultural heritage. We ask for your support in the form of tax deductible contributions to help us to continue discovering, documenting, and sharing the best that Fire Island Pines has to offer. There is much more to document! Our significant expenses include professional photography, drum-scanning of vintage images, creation and maintenance of the web site, required non-profit insurance, preservation consultations with homeowners, and the staffing of Pines Modern functions. Our officers are not paid for their efforts.
Donors at the $50 annual level and above will receive priority notification for house tours and other Pines Modern events. Each donor who contributes $150 and above will receive a free ticket to the next Pines Modern house tour. Please contact us if you would like to place an advertisement on our site.
For support regarding donations, send your message here.
2019 Contributors
Adam Wade
Pines Modern is a brand-new, non-profit 501(c)(3) endeavor dedicated to the rediscovery of all that the Pines has created, particularly its mid-century architectural and cultural heritage. We ask for your support in the form of tax deductible contributions to help us to continue discovering, documenting, and sharing the best that Fire Island Pines has to offer. There is much more to document! Our significant expenses include professional photography, drum-scanning of vintage images, creation and maintenance of the web site, required non-profit insurance, preservation consultations with homeowners, and the staffing of Pines Modern functions. Our officers are not paid for their efforts.
Donors at the $50 annual level and above will receive priority notification for house tours and other Pines Modern events. Each donor who contributes $150 and above will receive a free ticket to the next Pines Modern house tour. Please contact us if you would like to place an advertisement on our site.
For support regarding donations, send your message here.
2019 Contributors
Adam Wade
338 SHELL WALK
AUDIO
Architect: EARL COMBS, c. 1966.
338 Shell Walk reads like a more disciplined precursor to Earl Combs’ elaborate house at 120 Ocean Walk. A two-story octagonal volume is overlaid with a one-story cube. The result is a confounding home which is perfectly symmetrical, but its taut, jagged geometries feel like they could snap open at any moment. This tension speaks to Earl Combs’ varied education. “When I was at Cornell, symmetry and Beaux-Arts were dirty words,” as Combs recalled. “Everything was asymmetric and ‘dynamic,’ and we were all under the influence of that. But I was never completely happy with it. Luckily, I won a Fulbright and spent a year in Italy. I just drank it all in.”
Originally clad in redwood inside and out, the house was painted by subsequent owners. Its new occupant, appreciating its futuristic overtones, has painted the exterior “Death Star Grey” and dressed the interiors in white lacquer and eye-popping furniture to resemble a set from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The upstairs contains the living areas and a master suite with bay views, while the downstairs houses a den and guest rooms. A guest house anchors the rear edge of the site. A new gatehouse by Rawlins Design has not yet been executed.
Photos: Tom Sibley. Site Plan: Christopher Rawlins.
