This project involves the renovation and enlargement of a 1979 split level single family house.

The owners, a young couple with two young children, are not happy with their current house and purchased a new house with the idea of creating a modern home designed for the way they live. The only architect that they considered was David Businelli, AIA.

During the initial conversation, they said that the did not like any house on Staten Island, and that they wanted a unique, modern house.

The site is directly across the street from the Conference House Park in Tottenville, Staten Island, NY. The Conference House is the site of the only meeting held to attempt to prevent The Revolutionary War, initiated by Lord Howe September 11, 1776. The context is one of local vernacular architecture, mundane developer houses built over the last 30 years, American History, and the southern Staten Island shoreline.

The design of the house is primarily based on the way the owners live, but also draws on all of the above contextual elements, even the developer houses (in terms of what not to do). Sustainable design strategies are being used.