As you drive along Asharoken Avenue, you may spot a couple of beautiful houses designed by John Ross, a Northport alumnus. His architectural designs, not just in Northport but all around the United States, have earned international recognition and accolades. These homes have been graced by notable personalities, including Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, and U2’s production manager. He lives in Northport today and has his own office on Main Street. We had the privilege of sitting down with him to discuss his high school experiences and how they have influenced his illustrious career in architecture.
When you attended NHS, what was your favorite class and your favorite teacher?
Architectural drafting was probably my favorite and it was taught by Don Corey. He really got me into it. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of years ago. Really, really nice guy; lived right here in Northport. He was into cars as I was, you know, into hot rods and things like that, as well as architecture. But he really got me started. So that was my favorite class.
My second favorite class was gym. I loved gymnastics and that’s why I wound up at UCLA. I had polio as a kid, so I had a bad right leg and I could never tumble or run or anything like that. But I was good on the apparatus, the pommel horse, the still rings, and the power bars. We actually won the state championships back in ‘63. You know, it’s too bad that Northport stopped their gymnastics program because we had a very, very good team.
When we were in school, two other gymnasts and I used to go into the New York Athletic Club to work out with the American Olympic team and the Japanese Olympic team. They’d ask us to compete for them when we got to be pretty good, but we couldn’t because if you competed with them you’d be ineligible for high school competition. The gym was how I wound up in California because they hired the Japanese Olympic coach and I kind of followed him out there. Also, I just got into the Hall of Fame at Northport for gymnastics in 2016!
Professionally, what were your goals during high school and how did those change as you moved forward?
Well, I liked architecture and I was intending on getting my architect’s license. But life doesn’t always give you exactly what you want. I went to school locally. Suffolk first, and then Farmingdale, and then New York Tech for Architecture. After that, I went to UCLA for a while. My mom got sick, so I never finished.
So when I wound up coming back from California, I had to take care of my mom. And then I started building and designing. A lot of it was self-taught and just experience. But I have a structural engineer that I work with. I’ve had a number of them over the years. They do the same thing architects do and more because when architects get into complicated problems, they need a structural engineer to review their plans and go over it.
Do you prefer online architecture technology?
Absolutely, because it’s very easy making changes. The big thing is that you still have to have to put all the information into it, and it’s up to you whether it’s correct or not. It doesn’t automatically do it, but it’s a lot faster and more accurate once you get used to it. You really have a nice presentation on your drawings compared to people who were very good at hand drawing. You could do an excellent set of drawings, but it was a lot of work. And then after you did all that work, your client comes back and says, well, can we move this over a little bit? And you gotta start the whole sheet over again. With AutoCAD, you can go back and pretty much do it very quickly.
What is it like to design homes and buildings in the neighborhood that you grew up in and went to high school in?
Oh, it’s great. I did quite a few buildings in Asharoken and a few in Northport also. I won a couple of national and international design awards on some of them. Let’s see. Did you see the Post and Beam House out there[Pictured in the gallery below]? I won an international designer award on that one. It’s funny because the house next to it, I won an international designer award for 20 years ago. That is one of my favorite ones that we did. I also did a few things out of state as well, and we did Paul McCartney’s accountant’s house a few years back. Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley rented one of my houses too. If you go online, you can see some of them there. And U2’s production manager also stayed in one of the houses that we did.
If you could say something to your high school self, what would you say?
I wasn’t a real good student. I was only good at the things I liked doing. And the same thing in college: the things I was interested in, I excelled at. But things that were mediocre to me, I didn’t do so well on. You don’t realize it sometimes when you’re younger, but the learning process just basically tells you what to do. Pay attention, see what they’re saying, and just repeat it and go over it a couple of times until you learn it.
But yeah, if I could tell myself years ago, I would’ve paid a little more attention. And I think I would’ve pursued getting the architects’ degree ’cause over the years, I keep thinking about going back, but I’m almost 80 years old now, so it wouldn’t pay off at this point.
I’ll be 79 in November and the better architects realize the work I do and appreciate it, and I appreciate their work. But like a lot of the mediocre, and, you know, lesser architects are jealous. So a lot of them think that I shouldn’t be designing houses at all. But I’m a member of the American Institute of Building Design and a couple of different associations for professional designers.
The thing is, anybody can design a house and as long as it meets code and it’s stamped by a professional, whether they’re an architect or a structural engineer, it’s acceptable. But to come up with a plan now to pass inspection is the difficult part at this point. But, you know, that’s where talent comes into it too. Just because anybody can do it doesn’t mean you can do it well. And I like all types of architecture if it’s done well.
And to do it correctly, the architects now should give a hammer first. I designed and built for a long, long time where I actually had a hammer in my hand. And I think a lot of times if you gave a lot of the architects now a hammer, they’d bleed in a half hour.
What is one piece of advice you would give to high school students now about finding a career that’s right for them?
The key is to love what you’re doing. My wife wants me to retire completely. And you know, I had polio as a kid and recently I had my knee replaced twice and I just had two hip replacements. I don’t get around construction sites like I used to, but I still like the architectural end of it. So as long as I can do it, I’m going to continue pursuing architecture.
