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The bathroom features simple black hex tile on the floor and white tile laid in a grid on the walls. The custom vanity is fir, in keeping with the rest of the home’s material palette.

Now, a walk-in shower and soaking tub are tucked under the roof line.

The house may be large at 5,382 square feet, but its extensive glazing makes it appear weightless.

The elemental quality and gridded composition of resident Diana Wong’s art is reflected in the curtain wall of the front façade of the Wong Residence and Studio by Paul Murdoch Architects.

Located in Genesee, Colorado, this 2001 project's ample use of stone was inspired by the Native American architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Surrounded by ponderosa pine trees, the home takes a cruciform shape to fit into the landscape: one wing runs up and down the hill and the other runs across its horizontal contours. The former is capped by a tower and features a great room at its base; the latter houses smaller private rooms.

The home's near-continuous glass walls make for a truly immersive experience.

The Conine family’s Jackson Hole hideaway is completely wired.

Teaming up with architect Craig Steely, an industrial designer and a mechanical engineer find just the right design for a striking home on a San Francisco hill. Photo by Ian Allen.

Architect Joaquin Castillo blends inexpensive materials, the odd splurge, and a refined modernist sensibility to create an affordable weekend house for brothers Alfredo and Guillermo Oropeza. The facade is a juxtaposition of rough-hewn local stone, smooth concrete, glass, and steel—the material palette used throughout the structure.

The LV Series homes by Chilean-American designer Rocio Romero are simple, modern, and environmentally conscious. These homes are meant to connect their owners to the outdoors through steel load-bearing posts that create large openings for glass windows. Specific designs can be tailored to the location and lifestyle of the customers. Although flat-packed and easily shipped, the LV series requires a contractor for construction.

In the house that Richard Williams designed for David Frum and Danielle Crittenden Frum on Lake Ontario, floor-to-ceiling windows from Oldcastle offer views through the house to the lake beyond.

Twitter House Floor Plan A Laundry Room B Kitchen C Living-Dining Room D Half Bathroom E Shower F Guest Room-Study G Master Bathroom H Master Bedroom

Landscape designer Vickie Cardaro used native grasses and plantings near the swimming pool (opposite). Cushions upholstered in Sunbrella fabric rest atop a Trex deck. The western red cedar ceiling extends through the deep eaves and covered seating area.

Andy Harman’s macramé Owl punctuates the living room with a California-craft sensibility while the midnight-blue brick imbues the space with a “German-Brutalist-1960s kind of feel,” says Adler. “It gives the room a nice architectural gravitas.”

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan collaborated with New Haven, Connecticut, firm Gray Organschi on their midcentury-inspired New York vacation home.

“If the house had a wood frame, we wouldn’t have been able to get such open windows.”—Michael Epstein, architect

The home’s sliding doors blur the boundaries between inside and out.

The Burton Residence is comprised of ten recycled steel frame modules ranging in size from 25 feet and 1 inch by 8 feet and 9 inches to 48 feet and 9 inches by 8 feet and 9 inches. The modules were trucked to the site with all walls, appliances, fixtures, and cabinets already installed, then craned into place to form an L arrangement; bolted together; and finally welded to steel plates on the concrete block foundation. Click here to view our extended slideshow chronicling how the residence was assembled in a single day.

In Rhode Island, a Dutch Colonial-style home received a facelift in the form of a glassed pavilion that doubles as a library and greenhouse.

This detail shot shows how Burneo anchored the laminated slats for the exterior wood screen to a concrete slab.

"Most [floating homes] are reinvented boats with an unhealthy condensation inside, translated into humidity. In my house the smell is wood and it has a healthy proportion of humidity."

The large terrace on the upper level, which contains the house's bedrooms, is nearly 968 square feet.

A private terrace overlooks an alleyway on the main floor’s southeastern end. “[The home’s] outdoor spaces are all to varying degrees extensions of interior space,” Schaer says.

The house has a small environmental footprint. SHED built it using advanced framing, a technique that cuts down on the use of lumber by 30 percent. Another benefit of the method is that it prevents heat from escaping the home, making it more energy-efficient. Additionally, the architects installed a high-efficiency boiler that preheats water with rooftop solar panels; a heat recovery ventilation system that efficiently controls the climate; and a rainwater retention tank that conserves water.

A patio spins off the northern end of the house’s main level. It fronts “Main Street,” which unwinds from the heart of downtown Seattle into a pedestrian foot path bordered by a woodland. “We went with a low and robust barrier instead of a tall wood fence to preserve views to the park,” Schaer says. The table and benches are by Crate & Barrel.

Just off the bedroom, a restrained bathroom combines Duravit D-code sinks with Techno by Cifial faucets and a Toto Aquia toilet.

Located on the house’s lower level, the bedroom is bright but soothing. The bed is flanked by custom side tables and covered with a red West Elm duvet.

A George Nelson Saucer Pendant hangs over the table. Behind it, a vertical slot window frames a Douglas fir tree while editing out the windows of a nearby town house. “All the openings were composed in direct response to appealing fragments of the site and to avoid relationships that would leave the owners feeling exposed,” Schaer says.

For this kitchen, the architects paired slate-gray HPL (high-pressure laminate) cabinets by Henrybuilt, cool Basaltina countertops, with custom shelving and a white Corian backsplash.

“Durability drove the selection of metal panels,” Schaer says of the home’s industrial exterior. Manufactured by AEP SPAN from corrugated cladding, it looks like zinc but costs significantly less. It also contrasts nicely with the natural siding and trim. “All of the wood inside and out is Douglas Fir, the predominant wood species in the northwest,” Schaer explains.

A cantilevered second floor addition wrapped in black corrugated steel gives Nick Oakley's home in the Alberta district of Portland an industrial feel from the outside, one that is countered by the welcoming, wood-dominated interior.

A south-facing wall of windows allows for spectacular views and maximizes passive solar heating.

Burneo added exposed brick to his palette of interior materials.

“I love the house more each day,” says Tamami Sylvester of her and husband Michael's home by Sebastian Mariscal in Venice, California. The kitchen, which includes all Miele appliances, is sheathed in custom woodwork from Semihandmade. Accessories from A+R complement the Caesarstone countertops and Franke faucet. A LifeSource Water System provides filtration. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

“The water waste from the shower and the kitchen irrigate the interior garden,” LLaumett says. “The toilets have their own patio, which provides them with ventilation and natural light.” Black Marazzi tiles cover the wall.