Revamping A Fire Island Summer Retreat With Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Six Key Steps to Transforming this Home

When New York City-based designer Oliver Freundlich, took over revamping a Brooklyn family’s season retreat on Fire Island, the team wanted to find a way to pay homage to the Islands legacy while also honoring the family’s vision in the design. The following six steps, including selecting Carlisle engineered hardwood flooring for the home, were the designer’s keys to its transformation.

1. 1. Change the Shape of Things: The team replaced the original curving steel staircase with a linear modern one.
   2. Let Light In: The addition of a transom above the dining area’s sliding glass doors allowed sunlight to spill in, while also seamlessly connecting the interior to the beautiful exterior and encompassing pool deck.
   3. Go Big or Go Home:  The kitchen’s east-facing window was doubled in size to frame a breathtaking snapshot of the towering Japanese black pines towering amidst the Fire Island landscape.
   4.  A Jaw-Dropping Centerpiece: The warm backdrop of the Quartersawn White Oak floors with the addition of a bold, black granite fireplace to provide a cozy, welcoming ambiance for day to day living.
   5. Be Smart with Space:  The once sprawling, giant master suite on the second floor is now a more functional space with the division of a guest bedroom, an en suite bath, and a balcony.
   6. Use Materials that Wear Well:  They selected quality products that would not only wear well with a busy family and everyday life but also create a casual, down-to-earth look. Carlisle’s durable engineered wood flooring was a perfect choice.

Endless Inspiration for the Floor of Your Dreams

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Carlisle’s Featured Engineered Wood Flooring

This home features Carlisle’s Lenox Hill from the Manhattan Collection.  The Rift & Quartersawn White Oak floors combine visually stunning wide planks, with their impressive parallel lines and vibrant ray flecks. The warm hues of this light, natural stain color highlight the grain patterns in each board while creating a quality wood floor that meets the needs of any design from cozy and classic to cool and modern.

And while beauty might be eye-catching, there is so much more below the surface of Carlisle hardwood flooring. The planks used for this floor came from the colder climates, which nurture tight growth rings and nutty brown, cocoa hues. This raw timber was also optimized for heartwood content, which is the older, harder, nonliving central portion of the tree that is naturally more durable than its surrounding sapwood. More heartwood means more beauty and more long-term stability. This spectacular material next passed through as many as two dozen pairs of hands in its journey from natural timber to this family’s work of personal art. Carlisle’s production process means crafting one board at a time, which ensures every plank gets the time and attention it deserves to be sculpted into a uniquely extraordinary floor.

Photo Credit for All Images © Trevor Tondro/OTTO (designed by Oliver Freundlich)