The Belle Haven Club, a distinguished shingle-style clubhouse, is the center of family entertainment in Greenwich, and was designed in 1881 by Boring & Tilton, architects of Ellis Island. One hundred and twenty years of tradition accounted for the commitment of the membership to maintain the appearance of the clubhouse, but exposure to the Long Island Sound for the same period translated into a serious need for repair. The damage deemed one quarter of the structure unsalvageable, while much of the original interior suffered from multiple renovations.

PBDW was hired to restore the club and also raise the entire structure up by almost four feet to comply with contemporary flood plain regulations. The scope included relocating the structure as well as demolishing and reconstructing the kitchen and dormitory wing. Our team’s approach to this project was centered around the concept of “improvement without change,” and we successfully completed the project without losing a single summer season. Even the new porte cochere, which had been removed over fifty years earlier, looks as if it had always been there.

Architect: PBDW Architects (Samuel G. White, Josh Brandfonbrener, Sandra Suarez, Michael Chirigos)

MEP Engineer: Kohler Ronan

Structural Engineer: diStephano

Civil Engineer: Rednis & Mead

Kitchen Consultant: Romano Gatland

Landscape Architect: Conte & Conte

Lighting Designer: Melanie Freundlich Lighting Design

Code Consultant: Bruce Spiewak

Coastal Consultant: John Roberge

Project Manager: Sound Build