The Pine Plains, New York, home of Elise and Arnold Goodman boasts 48 windows, the largest of which measures 8'6'' by 7'6''. As architect Preston Scott Cohen explains, the "free facade makes it impossible to identify how many levels there are, or even to tell the difference between a door and a window." Photo by: Raimund Koch

A combination of Alumilex and Marvin windows dot the exterior of a pitched-roof house in North Hatley, Quebec, designed by Lee and Macgillivray Architecture Studio (LAMAS). - North Hatley, Quebec Dwell Magazine : July / August 2017

On an island 20 miles off the coast of Maine, a writer, with the help of his daughter, built not only a room, but an entire green getaway of his own.

The Desert House located in Desert Hot Springs is a steel structure designed with large expansive windows, and concrete flooring.

While the home’s simple, boxy forms starkly contrast with surrounding residences, its compact shape and modest scale help it fit into the traditional neighborhood without calling attention to itself. The house was built around a large birch tree, with dwarf fountain grass and porcupine grass planted in front. A weeping blue atlas cedar provides a focal point near the front door.

Likened to a "colonnaded Roman bath," the backyard pool is housed a room-like space.

This Southern Californian home by architect Sebastian Mariscal has a wabi-sabi spirit, and is built with shou sugi ban timber, has a koi pond, wand a protective overhang, and a tertiary space known in in traditional Japanese homes as the

A collection of vintage furniture, including a rattan armchair and a drafting table, is gathered around the terrace fireplace, which shares a volume with the hearth in the adjacent living room behind. Outdoor sconces are from iGuzzini.

By creating a series of platforms and courtyards to expand the functional ground plane, B&B Residence circumvents the challenges of its steep site.

In consultation with the clients, Alterstudio opted to clad the house in local cypress rather than imported, FSC-certified ipe.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ivy softens the hard edges of the cinder-block structure. Photo by: Roy Zipstein

The couple followed permaculture principles for their garden, complete with a robust compost system. You’ll also find an orchard, native prairie grasses, and a winter pond on the land.

The project’s unique challenges—a tight budget and steep, difficult terrain—led architecture firm _naturehumaine to a creative solution that gave the house its delightfully sculptural appearance. Making the first floor’s envelope slightly narrower than the top one’s saved money while minimizing the amount of excavation required.

At Casa Cantellano, light is omnipresent, with vegetation-rich courtyards around every corner.

Lane also designed a detached screen porch for the property. Its orientation captures the view of a small mountain across the lake. “A New Hampshire lake house always has a screened porch,” he says. “This one allows for a separate experience that connects you to nature.”

The umbrella resting on the terrace is from Frontgate.

When building such a modest structure in a large landscape, designer and client often had to defend their vision to their collaborators. “We knew this house was going to be for Maggie and she would live there alone,” designer Lauren Moffitt says. “But people are always projecting for future resale. Putting in the smallest size of anything—to any subcontractor, it’s just not reasonable.”

Irregular stone pavers lead to the outdoor grill.

A terrace sits quietly against the water, not quite indoors and not quite outdoors.

A “Schof” – a type of closed porch that’s common in the Alpine region of Austria, links the corridor-kitchen to the western side of the house.

The larch slats above the brick reference a history of agriculture buildings in the area.

A courtyard helps isolate the interior of the house visually and acoustically from its urban surroundings, and provides a large opening on the envelope of the house, where light and shadow play enhance the colors and textures of the building throughout the day.

The home's sci-fi structure seems to hover over the landscape.

Melanie Maher sunbathes beneath the lattice of a pool house, which is clad in Cor-Ten steel.

Pavers and succulents in a yard in Malibu, California, help save water.

While Nature Pod pictured here has a showerhead installed outside, it is normally placed in the in the bathroom behind a glass door (or a curtain if the home is purchased without insulation).

In Vancouver’s Strathcona district, two side-by-side lots now hold seven residences—thanks to a thoughtful renovation of a pair Edwardian houses and the addition of a laneway, or alley, building by Shape Architecture. The team salvaged as much 120-year-old siding as they could for use on the street-facing facades.

Saddle Peak Residence by AUX Architecture

The side patio doubles as a parking spot for a custom-built 1970 Honda CB750.