While the hip, young homeowners of a to-be-built home in Northern Fairfield County, CT, selected a traditional-looking post-and-beam style for their new weekend retreat, they wanted its interiors to reflect a contemporary style throughout. Manhattan-based designer Miriam Weinreb Lissak was charged with creating a master bath that was an add-on to the original home plan. She worked with Sherman, CT-based architect Charles Reppenhagen and residential designer Erich Diller, of Evolve Design Group in New Milford, CT, to integrate the $90,000 stick-built bath into the rest of the home, resulting in a  sprawling 7,064 sq. ft. of space.

To ensure continuity, Lissak extended the post-and-beam styling of the main home into the master bath, although the actual posts and beams she used are decorative and not functional. "The unique twist to this house is that it looks traditional, but everything inside is state-of-the-art, super-clean and super-chic," Lissak said.

The bath, which measures 15 1/2 ft. x 16 ft., has a soaring 12-ft. ceiling that, while dramatic, presented Lissak with a major challenge: How to visually lower it so the room would feel less awkwardly proportioned. Here, the Douglas fir post-and-beam element of the room proved effective, as it "helps identify the unique shape of the space" and, thanks to the horizontal band of wood just above the vanity sinks, "brings the eye down to a more comfortable level," Lissak explained.

On the floor, white Thassos marble borders, cut from 12-in. x 12-in. tiles to match the exact width of the posts, connect the vertical members, creating a sense of organization and cohesion in the bathroom. Inset within the marble borders are clear glass mosaics set in thinset that Lissak tinted with fabric dye to produce a very pale aqua color. The mosaics, selected in soft watercolor hues, also line the shower floor and ceiling, as well as the base of the tub surround, unifying the space.

While the bath could have taken on a traditional feel based on the post and beam details, Lissak used contemporary products and materials throughout to lend it a more updated tone. The separate water closet, for example, features a wall-hung tankless toilet and a three-panel frosted glass door, and a freestanding inset jetted tub, situated near a window, sports a vaguely urban, conical profile.

Enclosed in clear glass, the shower for two is also outfitted for modern comfort. In addition to an array of fittings, including six body sprays, two handshowers, two wall-mounted showerheads and a center rain showerhead, it boasts a steam unit with aromatherapy, an audio system and a 6-ft.-wide bench.

Sitting opposite each other in the bathroom as if mirror images, twin custom vanities are paired with sinks whose bottoms pitch toward a drain located in the back of the basins. The units contain drawers with concealed hot-wired receptacles that enable accessories to be instantly ready for use, and above, water from the wall-mounted faucets resembles a flat ribbon.
"The main challenge was to get it all to work," said Lissak. "We didn't want the house to look as if it was built in one era and furnished or decorated in another." And it doesn't.


SOURCES

Designers: Miriam Weinreb Lissak—Weinreb Schultz Design Associates, New York; Erich Diller—Evolve Design Group, LLC, New Milford, CT
Architect: Charlie Reppenhagen
Fixture consultant: Marlene Englemyer
Manufacturers: Vanity and tub surround: Paul Stockmann Carpentry; Fittings: Dornbracht; Sinks: Alape; Tub: BainUltra; Toilet: Catalano/Hastings Tile & Bath; Mirrors: Tech Lighting; Tiles and stone: Artistic Tile
Photography: © Bryan Goulart