“All of our design work is based on historic precedent,” says architect Elizabeth Dillon. “We’re not literal, but we love to look to the past and learn from tradition.” It follows, then, that when clients approached her to build a Hamptons vacation residence, she found inspiration in the early homes of the area. Saltboxes—named after the wooden containers favored for salt storage during the Colonial era—first appeared out East in the 1600s. With their all-American charm and spartan beauty, the architectural style has stood the test of time in the centuries since.“The clients loved the idea of a saltbox as inspiration,” continues Dillon, who, in collaboration with architects Christopher Carrigan and Lora Shea and general contractor Jon Grossman, responded with a home that blends effortlessly with the primitive architecture of the area while bringing forward a modern-day character all its own. It helped that the clients were committed to rightsizing; being mindful of how the home would be utilized and designing only what was needed, which kept the form fairly authentic to its vernacular roots. “If you look at historic houses, they tend to have a shallower floor plate,” Dillon notes. “We try to break down the massing of the house into smaller pieces so that we can get daylight from at least two exposures, if not three.”In turn, a three volume composition—comprising a saltbox-style core, a living room pavilion designed to feel like a subsequent addition, and a primary suite wing meant to evoke an outbuilding later connected to the main structure—floods the interiors with light while keeping the spaces cosseting. Selecting large windows with bold black mullions—scaled-up versions for the core; floor-to-ceiling for the pavilion—brings a modern edge to the humble façade, which the team hung with cedar shingles intended to weather in different ways in rain and sun based on the direction they would face.