The custom cedar tub, fabricated by Dovetail, elegantly fits into the master bathroom.

During construction, Mariscal’s team adjusted the design to accommodate the boughs of an old pine tree in the backyard. The unique detail imbues the home with a spirit of wabi-sabi—or beauty through imperfection.

Since surrounding neighbors can overlook the one-story property, Thomson created a roof detail that is environmentally friendly and attractive: “the bio-diverse [green] roof is planted with indigenous species of flowers and grasses,” he says.

This revamped Montreal flat includes a rooftop sauna lined with torrified, or dried, cedar. Outfitted with glass paneling and oriented to capture views of Mount Royal, it is the ideal haven for this hardworking homeowner.

The charred cedar exterior gently basks in the Alaskan sun.

In the shadow of Denali mountain, amid Alaska’s meadows and icy streams, a former teacher and a four-time Iditarod winner calls upon Mayer Sattler-Smith to design a modernist cabin as expansive as the Last Frontier.

A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.

Wilkin and Pini hired Longma Joinery to build custom cedar windows and doors for their 270-square-foot addition.

“When we first set out on this crazy adventure, we always pictured parking Woody in a place like this,” Brian says. “We honestly couldn’t have imagined it would be this spectacular.”

This home's open kitchen, living, and dining area includes a small pantry and an office, but the cedar cladding is the showstopper.

“The liberal use of wood roots the structure in the landscape and provides the owners with an experience strongly connected with location,” Herrin says. The exterior’s Western red cedar shingle siding has a semi-transparent stain, half Fieldstone and half Burnt Hickory from Cabot.

The mix of stone, masonry, and wood in the south-facing terrace replicates the style of the original house. In order to ensure the space felt warm and inviting, the architect replaced the existing steel structure with solid cedar, adding cedar posts and shutters to unite the wood ceiling with both the interior and with nature outside.

“The house turns its back to the street while opening up to the views to the northeast through a large glazed corner window system,” Hutchison says. One-by-four and one-by-six inch cedar siding, which were pre-stained in Cabot Semi-Transparent Black, were placed vertically and horizontally on the exterior as a subtle detail.

Brian and Joni Buzarde’s self-designed home sits on a customized chassis by PJ Trailers that’s just eight and a half feet wide. The 236-square-foot trailer is clad in cedar.

The cedar-and-glass structure rises over an expansive rear patio. Although it is larger than some of its neighbors, the home nearly matches the height line of the surrounding houses due to its flat, modern roof.

Architect Andrew Simpson and the owners wanted to keep the design simple and grounded with “a sense of modest honesty.” In terms of the exterior, “as much of the existing cedar cladding as possible was retained and reused.”

"The cedar siding is simply stained with a black semi-transparent oil stain [from Cabot], which allows the color of the wood to still emerge through,” architect Robert Hutchison says. “We love how the black color makes the building recede into the background, and how it in turn allows the trees on the site to emerge as the highlight.”

Inspired by the Sydney Opera House, architects Andrew Maynard and Mark Austin paid careful attention to the extension’s “fifth elevation"—the way it’s seen from the sky. Its tiny houses, clustered at the southern end of the property, are clad in white steel panels and western red cedar shingles, contrasting materials that emphasize their geometric forms.

“From the street, it appears as a rectangular building with sloping shed roofs, but this is actually an illusion,” Hutchison notes. “The floor plan is actually U-shaped, wrapping around an entry courtyard that is contained by the continuous west facade.” A standing seam metal roof by Custom Bilt Metals blends in with the cedar siding.

A wall of three-inch-wide cedar slats contrasts with the tile backsplash.

“The unique site-plan includes the main house, a two-story dog run, and a guest cabin,” Flato says. “All are seamlessly stitched together by a grand boardwalk, making an arrival by boat or by car an equally engaging experience.” Vertical grain Western red cedar acts as the exterior siding.

The renovated home maintains its original layout. To refresh the dated appearance of the space, Stonefox added cedar tongue-and-groove panels to the ceiling and refinished the floors. The living room rug is from Creative Matters, the WL Daybed is from Niedermaier, and the circular coffee table is a Tie and Die model from Holly Hunt.

The living room leads to a private outdoor patio. Before the renovation, the slightly below grade area was in plain sight to passersby, as it lays adjacent to the public walkway into the building. This less-than-ideal setup was addressed in the redesign by adding a slatted cedar perimeter fence, along with tall trees and shrubs. Clever hidden doors conceal patio storage under the entry walkway.

To reference the original structure and to offer privacy, Grizzle left two of the shingled walls standing. The building, accessed by a cedar deck, opens to its surroundings via a sliding glass wall by Fleetwood and a bifold steel-and-glass garage door from Wilson Doors.

The front door of this house in Scotland is built from charred cedar boards—a traditional way of fireproofing wood developed in Japan. In this case, the effect on the front door is likely more aesthetic than preventative, though you can never be too careful.

The bathtub faces a Spanish-cedar-framed window overlooking the back deck. Once the outside plants have grown up enough to provide privacy, the adhesive film on the window will be removed.

Claire and Ken Stevens approached architect Ko Wibowo to create a modern addition to their 1970s home in Tacoma, Washington. The couple’s needs had changed since Ken was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years ago.

Rydingsvärd often cooks out on his terrace, which offers a view of Mount Royal. The volume housing the sauna is clad in cedar planks that were painted black. The door and windows are by Alumilex, and the custom outdoor shower is by Avantage Plus.

Down on the cedar dock, the view of nearby Bowen Island generates a dramatic foreground view, while the British Columbia mainland in the distance appears to be a world away.

A series of charred modern boxes, the home Petra Sattler-Smith and Klaus Mayer designed for Martin Buser and Kathy Chapoton, is organized around views of the Alaskan landscape.

In Bracebridge, Ontario, this cedar cabin with slatted wood screens treads lightly on the land. Read more about the project here.

“Considering all of the foot traffic around their property, [the owners] made it very clear that they wanted to find a way to maintain as much privacy in the home as possible,” architect Chad Mitchell says of this Denver home. “Thus, the main floor of the home is elevated from the sidewalk by about six feet.” The exterior siding is red cedar with a custom Sherwin-Williams stain.

The cedar screen that extends out from the dining and living rooms traces the line of the actual setback and reads not as a wall of the house but as a delineator of exterior space. The same material is used on the railing on the roof deck and offers a bit of privacy without, according to Braver, “looking like a stockade.”

Christopher: Olalla, Washington, is a small rural community on the Kitsap Peninsula accessible to Seattle via ferry, or a long drive through Tacoma. We're about one mile from Puget Sound, one mile from a freshwater lake and a few miles from a popular sailing harbor. We're Olympic Peninsula adjacent, and, most importantly, we are less than 45 minutes from Amy's favorite oyster farm in the Hood Canal, Hama Hama. In addition to a family of deer, dozens of birds, and hundreds of frogs, our property is also home to occasional wandering coyotes and a very strange-looking creature that Amy has convinced herself is a chupacabra. There are cougars and black bears in the area as well, but thank God we haven't eyeballed them yet. Amy: For us, the primary driver for us to move from Los Angeles and abandon our urban existence was our love of the property.

Bernstein reconfigured the entryway to the street level; guests ascend to the main living space. Ironspot clay tile and FSC-certified cedar clads the facade.