This week we’re revisiting some of our favorite all-time summer stories, like this one:
While perusing Laura Fenton’s new book, The Little Book of Living Small, we were happy to see designer Glenn Ban‘s compact East Hamptons home featured. Julie wrote about his Provincetown cottage a few years ago, and it remains one of our favorite beach houses we’ve covered on our site.
No surprise, Glenn’s Long Island hideaway, measuring just 600 square feet, is just as charming and refined. “I’ve always lived in smaller spaces. I connect with them. I like being able to see a home and its intentions,” he tells us, while conceding that “living small does force you to make choices, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be creative.”
No, it doesn’t. And this tidy little home is proof of that. Built in the early 1800s as just a single room, it was used mainly as an artists’ retreat. Though more rooms (two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom) were added in later years, it remains a humble, characterful abode—just the way Glenn prefers it.
Join us for a tour.
Photography by Weston Wells, from Laura Fenton’s The Little Book of Living Small.
![glenn transformed the enclosed porch into a mudroom/reading room. his affinity 17](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-entrance-733x489.jpg)
![glenn sold this house this past summer (he has since resettled in nearby sag ha 18](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-bench-733x1099.jpg)
![the donald judd inspired plywood daybed was built for his old home but fit nice 19](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-day-bed-733x1099.jpg)
![another favorite feature: the wooden ceiling beams in the living room, the orig 20](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-living-room-733x489.jpg)
![\2\20;i love vintage furniture and objects and include them not only in 21](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-living-room3-733x1099.jpg)
![two modest sized bedrooms, nearly identical in size are just off the main livin 22](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-living2-733x489.jpg)
![each bedroom is big enough for just a bed and a couple pieces of small furnitur 23](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-bedroom1-733x1099.jpg)
![while collections of his favorite objects and art can be found in the main livi 24](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-bedroom-733x1099.jpg)
![a saarinen table in the dining area is a modern counterpoint to antique wooden 25](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-dining-733x1099.jpg)
![the kitchen, humble and practical, was left untouched. 26](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-kitchen-733x1100.jpg)
![glenn brought in a large bookcase for more storage in the kitchen. \2\20 27](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-shelf-733x1099.jpg)
![the exterior is clad in classic cedar shingles. 28](https://www.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/glenn-ban-house-little-book-living-small-laura-fenton-exterior-733x1100.jpg)
For more Long Island summer homes we admire, see:
- Year-Round at the Beach: At Home with Two Stylish Women in the Hamptons
- Elizabeth Roberts at Home: The Architect’s Own Beach House in Bellport, NY
- Farmhouse Refresh: An Antiques Dealer’s Clean and Simple Family Retreat on Shelter Island
N.B.: This story originally ran in 2022 and has been updated.
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