New York architect Debbie Kropf has designed a boutique hotel in the Hamptons, Long Island, which teams Japanese details and elements of the local architecture.
Shou Sugi Ban House is the brainchild of Amy Cherry-Abitbol and her business partner, Kathleen Kapnick. They purchased land in Water Mill hamlet in the Long Island town of Southhampton in 2015, including a fire-destroyed barn, with the aim to create an upscale wellness retreat.

Local architect Debbie Kropf of DSK designed the property to draw on the "ryokan" ? a traditional Japanese inn. It accommodates 13 guest rooms, a gathering barn and a spa, along with a Japanese-style tea lounge, meditation hall and gardens.
The project's name also refers to the ancient Japanese technique shou sugi ban, which describes a process of burning wood to make it black and resilient to damage. The volumes at the retreat, however, are clad in pale timber.
Wood shingles cover some of the buildings to provide a nod to the traditional houses in the Hamptons. Others are clad in vertical boards that take cues from other new beach houses in the popular holiday spot.
"The property boasts two Hamptons architectural vernaculars ? renovated old barns and modern beach cottages ? which have been cohesively integrated," said a statement from Shou Sugi Ban House.

For the meditation building, Kropf built a rectangular, flat-roofed structure lined in sliding glass doors that open up the interior space on either side. This allows...