Working with a sumptuous material palette, Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects designed a sprawling new residence in Palo Alto for Mark and Laura Pine. The teak wood and handmade Danish bricks that define the exterior are used inside as well; distressed stainless steel panels by Chris French Metal sheathe one side of the upper volume. Blasen Landscape Architecture chose Peruvian feather grass to flank the entrance walkway.
Usha and Mike Kreaden had a virtually blank slate when it came to the garden outside the 1958 Joseph Eichler house that they bought in Silicon Valley two decades ago.
In a family’s pint-size lake retreat in Austin, Texas, ipe siding and decking meet concrete floors and steeland-glass windows. Stained cyprus was used for the ceiling and soffit. The custom barn-style sliding door conceals the family’s collection of giant inner tubes and other boating equipment. Photo by: Kimberly Davis
In the open living and dining room of a hillside family home in Japan, Eames shell chairs surround a custom walnut table by Kagura. The upholstered seating is by Arflex. The architect, Masahiro Harada of Mount Fuji Architects Studio, also designed the custom kitchen island and stove vent.
Aaron and Yuka Ruell transformed a 1950s Portland ranch house into a retro-inspired family home with plenty of spaces for their four children to roam. In the kitchen, interior designer Emily Knudsen Leland replaced purple laminate cabinets with flat-sawn eastern walnut, and added PentalQuartz countertops in polished Super White for contrast. The kitchen island is clad with original red tiles, and hanging cabinets above it were removed to maximize light and family-room views.
In their concrete-walled courtyard, Yuka and Aaron watch as twins Emerson and Jasper, daughters Maude and Mirene, and Alfie the dog play. The house is painted in Black Bean Soup by Benjamin Moore, a color in keeping with the period of the original architecture. The garden was designed by Lauren Hall-Behrens of Lilyvilla Gardens.