Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction

As the 1960s became The Sixties architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New YorkÕs Fire Island. Growing up on the beaches of Florida Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. GiffordÕs serene 1960s pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world while his exuberant post-Stonewall pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. Marilyn Monroe Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift once spurned Hollywood limos for the rustic charm of Fire IslandÕs boardwalks. Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at TiffanyÕs here. Diane von Furstenburg showed off her latest wrap dresses to an audience that included Halston Giorgio SantÕ Angelo Calvin Klein and Geoffrey Beene. Today such a roster evokes the aloof gated co