The Four Fountains House, also known as the Tyng
Playhouse was designed by well-known architect Archibald Brown for Ethel and
Lucian Tyng as a playhouse and cultural center. Their main residence was across
the road. The building, which boasted a soaring, arched main room measuring 40
feet square, was intended to be part of a larger compound that was completed in
1928. The original Four Fountains
property comprised an apartment garage, guest house, and gardener’s cottage on
7.5 acres located between Southampton Art Village and the Atlantic Ocean. Most
of these components were arranged around a square, flagstone-paved forecourt
whose four corners were each anchored by a fountain.
In 1942, the Tyngs sold Four Fountains to Archibald
Brown. Brown’s wife, Eleanor, the founder of the interior design
firm McMillen Inc., converted the playhouse into a summer home over the
course of a year. In 1978,
television executive William S.
Paley purchased the property. Several
years after Paley’s 1990 death, the investor Bruce Bockmann and his wife,
Maria, acquired the property. Both owners undertook additions and renovations
to the compound. In later years, Australian designer Paul
Bangay oversaw stewardship and redesign of the landscape.
The main house was torn down in 2020 as it was deemed
untenable due to a combination of flood risk and regulatory constraints.
Source:
Sokol, D. (2020, January
15). The Historic Four Fountains Home in Southampton has been Demolished.
Architectural Digest. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-historic-four-fountains-home-in-southampton-has-been-demolished
