The 2016 HC&G IDA Winners: Small Spaces

It might be possible to live well in a house without walls. This glass cabana and wood arbor, situated high on a Montauk bluff, argues the point, incorporating cozy seating and dining areas, a TV lounge, and a kitchen.

It also includes a private spa, bath, and novel surfboard storage area.

Judge Matthew Patrick Smyth deems it “the perfect summer pavilion.”

Surf’s up at Ditch Plains in Montauk, where this two-bedroom, two-bath, 810-square-foot trailer functions perfectly for a young family of four.

The black-and-white decor and handsome cedar-clad exterior are “simplicity at its best,” says judge Russell Groves. Judge Michael Haverland describes it as “successfully restrained and casually elegant.”

Montauk’s Bluff Hollow, built in 1980, was renovated by architecture firm Stelle Lomont Rouhani with the intention of creating a peaceful, contemplative retreat—and now surfboards hang from the ceiling of what was once a photographer’s studio.

Judge Lee Mindel admires how the structure “shows respect for the generic Hamptons silhouette,” while Smyth is ready to move in, exclaiming, “This is my dream house—it’s all I need!”

A lot of living can be done in a small space when it is “organized and very well thought out,” which is what Smyth says of this East Hampton pool pavilion. The streamlined structure, which fully embraces its narrow site and responds to the natural terrain, features many of the same materials found in the main residence, including mahogany and aluminum.