Portland permits each household up to three hens (no roosters), and in February 2009, Snyder had the plans in the works in Google SketchUp. Around the same time, the duo also got their chicks, housing them under lamps in the basement until the coop was completed. "We didn't know what they were going to be like," Snyder says. "But we didn't just get them for the eggs; they're really fun as pets, too."

The coop grew out of the garden. "We were so excited to have a yard," Snyder recalls. Martin started growing a vegetable bed and soon a friend and owner of Naomi's Organic Farm Supply suggested hens. "She got us excited about having chickens as an extension of our garden," Snyder says.

Snyder and Martin's move brought about an entirely different lifestyle--one that involved a house, a yard, and for Snyder, the chance to launch his own firm, Mitchell Snyder Architecture, after first acquainting himself to Portland, Oregon, as a designer at Scott Edwards Architecture. His first project on his own: a chicken coop for the couple's new feathery friends.

Ingrid shows off one of the chickens the family raises in their large and very productive coop.

Snyder finished the sleek-looking box with reclaimed cedar siding and ventilated it with two upper windows. On top, he added a green roof: "The living roof helps keep the coop cool, but mostly it was a chance to experiment and design something fun."

The struggle of accessing the inside, however, is offset by Snyder's smart design of an exterior hinged window for easy egg access.

Cassell wasn't kidding when he said they did serious research. "This was probably the most architectural brain power ever devoted to the problem" of housing chickens, he said. They analyzed a variety of factors, including how many square feet each chicken required, how do you collect eggs, and how you keep chickens safe from predators. Undoubtedly, the last factor was one they had not considered on previous projects.

Native Oregon sedums grow on the coop's green roof. Elsewhere in the garden, Martin harvests lettuce, radishes, snap peas, onions, carrots, potatoes, and a cornucopia of other vegetables.

The relatively spacious interior of the 60-square-foot coop came after the ARO architects delved in the literature, so to speak, and took time to examine the problem. "We made a project that works well for the birds, that's our obligation," says Cassell.

The concept was to create a series of folded shingles, textured pieces of aluminum that would complement the more rustic aesthetic.

Cassell, who ended up working on a chicken coop, synagogue, and football stadium addition all at the same time, conducted serious research and did a series of thought exercises to figure out how to approach the assignment. After examining a handful of approaches—"What if Breuer created a poured-concrete coop? What happens if we create computer scripting to generate ideas?"—Cassell and designer Ethan Feuer settled on a rustic, curved shelter of bent aluminum shingles—an edgy, 60-square-foot avian Airstream.

Architecture Research Office (ARO) built this sleek, aluminum-clad chicken coop for a Hamptons backyard, both for the challenge and for "the sheer ridiculousness" of the project.

Radiant heating, one of the structure's amenties, is a coop must-have, according to Cassell.

This photo is one of the images of "happy clients" Cassell says ARO has occasionally put on display in their office. The firm has received numerous calls for work, and requests for more coops, since this project went public. "It's sort of shocking how many calls we received," he says. "We did a big project about climate change for MoMA, and this chicken coop has earned us just as many calls."

For a slightly funkier feel, opt for a variety of high-design chairs around your table. A less rigid approach to hanging art can also ease the hard lines of much modern decor and add to a more bohemian vibe to your home.

Inside, the coop is lined with oriented strand board (OSB) and fitted with cans of food and water. Though Snyder designed a large door so he and Martin can access the inside of the coop to clean it, he forgot that to get to the door, they'd have to crawl through the chickens' run. "That's the one think I would have changed," he says. "We're both pretty short but we still have to crouch down to get through."

Barbara Hill's Dancehall/House in Marfa, Texas September 14, 2010 Misty Keasle

The 16-acre property includes room for the family’s horses and a portable chicken coop.

Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.

“We wanted the wood to appear as natural as possible, so leaving the larch untreated was the first choice,” Bas explained. But the shape of the house would make the wood turn gray unevenly, so they blackened the larch. “The clients were excited with the dark color as it helps the house blend into the trees. They didn’t want the anything excessive or showy.” But blackened timber comes with its own challenges. Since it absorbs more heat, a larger air cavity was built behind the wood to keep it cool.

In 1962, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect Arthur Witthoefft won the AIA's highest honor for a home he built in the lush woods of Westchester County. Having fended off a developer's wrecking ball, Todd Goddard and Andrew Mandolene went above and beyond to make this manse mint again.

Experimental Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma is based in Rotterdam.

Modern Loft with Designer Halfpipe (Los Angeles, USA) While the colorful, green-and-pink accents in this mid-century styled loft demand attention, it’s hard for any furniture to overshadow the working half-pipe in the center of the 1,500-square-foot loft in Boyle Heights. While the outdoor patio and BBQ, accessible by a large roll-up door, strongly suggests grilling and evenings drinks al fresco, you may want to bring your deck just in case. Listing at LA - Large Creative Skate Loft!

In the DoghousePaul and Shoko's dog, Mei, has lucked into a small prefab home of her own. Making use of a water jet cutter at his office, and using Adobe Illustrator as his design tool, Paul fashioned a series of panels that slot together without any nails or screws.

A selection of 9 handsome chairs that cost $250 or less.

Just because your kitchen is on the smaller side doesn’t mean you can’t make it as efficient and effective as possible.

Jewelry by Dutch designer Alissa Melka-Tiechroew.

Flax is a collection of products Meindertsma designed for Thomas Eyck. The lamp is shown here.

In PIG, Meindertsma researched different products that could be made from a single pig.

Meg’s inspiration: The design of the Lucky Linden was something Meg carried along with from many years in her sketchbook. She loves the Art and Craft styled RV’s and was sure that if she built a tiny house RV someday, this would be a her inspiration. What she like most of this pattern is the low sloped roofs, pop out dormers on the front as well as back and especially the bungalow look from the Sears and Roebuck kit houses which were prevalent in the 1990’s.

Their creative confections may ruin our diets, but we’re happy to be their taste testers anytime.

The Kelleys furnished the cottage with help from Suzanne’s daughter Betsy Burbank of Betsy Burbank Interiors. Classic modernist icons, such as a Saarinen Womb chair for Knoll, a Herman Miller Eames lounge chair, and an Eileen Grey E1027 side table look at home alongside present-day pieces such as an Encore sofa (which handily folds down into a sleeping surface) from Room & Board and a Doka rug designed and produced by Stephanie Odegard. The Wohlert pendant lights from Louis Poulsen were designed by Vilhelm Wohlert in 1959, but grouped as such, they appear distinctly contemporary.

“The client wanted an interior space where you could read the materiality of the building elements like understanding the ingredients in a recipe,” principal architect Elizabeth Webster explains. The extension features distinctly textured materials: an exposed timber ceiling, painted brick walls, and polished concrete floors. Warm lighting by Brinklicht unifies the space.

A double bowl sink is also quite self-explanatory, created either out of one large sink with a divider or from two distinct bowls framed into a single sink.

This dreamy, glass bedroom by the lake was created as an early prototype for the prefabricated greenhouse/she kits known as the Kekkilä Green Sheds.