William B. Gleckman

    William B. Gleckman of Apaquogue Road, East Hampton, and New York City died at the Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson on July 25 at the age of 79 following a stroke.

    Mr. Gleckman was an architect who designed several houses in East Hampton, Amagansett and Sagaponack, among them a famous — some said infamous — stainless-steel-roofed house in Sagaponack near the ocean. “Stainless steel doesn’t pit or rust like other metals,” Mr. Gleckman said when the house went up in the late ’80s. “And it is so beautiful.” Architectural Digest apparently thought so too; the magazine featured the metal house respectfully and prominently in its February 1990 issue.

    Born on Sept. 11, 1931, in New Bedford, Mass., Mr. Gleckman attended New Bedford High School and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954 with a degree in architecture. After army service in Germany he did postgraduate studies in city planning in Switzerland, and later worked for several architectural firms in Lausanne, Geneva, and Zurich, where he met his wife, the former Magdalena Hafter, who survives. They were married on Aug. 15, 1959.

    Back in the United States, Mr. Gleckman started his own architectural practice in Manhattan. His work consisted primarily of apartment-building renovations, restaurants, and foreign consulates.

    Apart from a lifelong passion for architecture, he was a keen reader, a history buff, and loved classical music and crossword puzzles.

    Besides his wife he leaves a daughter, Suzanne Gleason of New York City, a son, Nicholas Gleckman of Corte Madera, Calif., and five grandchildren. Mr. Gleckman was cremated. His ashes will be spread on the ocean in a private family ceremony.