A Contemporary Home on New York’s Shelter Island Seeks a Record $15.5 Million

It may not be the most expensive home available on New York's Shelter Island—it's the island's second priciest home currently on the market—but if it sells for anywhere near its $15.495 million asking price, a sprawling contemporary estate facing postcard-ready Coecles Harbor will set a record for the most ever paid for a single-family home on the relaxed, under-the-radar island enclave. 

The owners searched far and wide before they acquired the two-plus-acre waterfront parcel in 2007 on Little Ram Island, a small peninsula with fewer than two dozen homes. James Merrell of Merrell Soule Architects was engaged to design a spacious home that comfortably accommodates a large number of people and includes both spacious public rooms for entertaining and more cozily proportioned spaces for tucking in and relaxing.

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The U-shaped assemblage of boxy, clean-lined volumes is reminiscent of the International style but is warmed up with horizontal wood cladding on the exterior and a variety of organic materials on the interior, including wood floors, wood doors and window trim, and throughout the home, custom wood cabinetry and built-ins.

There are a total of eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms, plus a powder room, in about 8,800 square feet over three floors, including a finished lower level. The ample bedrooms are clustered in pairs at the far ends of the home's various wings for maximum privacy.

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At the heart of the home is a capacious double-height living room, where opposite a wheat-colored wood-paneled wall is an asymmetrical raised hearth fireplace. A towering wall of glass provides an over-the-swimming-pool and through-the-trees view across Coecles Harbor. To one side of the living room, a huge chef's kitchen and a fireside dining area spill out a poolside loggia, and, on the other, a cozy den with built-in cabinetry incorporates a bar area.

The primary bedroom, with another fireplace, glinting water views, and a spacious bath, is perched on the upper level, while the lower level includes a mirror-walled gym and a children's lounge with a pool table.

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