The Cotage
Sited in rural Pennsylvania, The 5,390 square foot residence consists of the main house, and adjacent garage where the residents now store the boat that was once their home.
Considered the finest residential example of International Style architecture in Denver, the 1951 Joshel House was in serious disrepair when Dominick Sekich and Scott Van Vleet bought it in 2013. They embarked on a major renovation to re-create the vision of the original designers, Joseph and Louise Marlow.
The simple form of each volume is a nod to regional architecture, while durable materials such as white cedar and zinc contribute to a low-maintenance vacation home. The windows and doors feature a bronze anodized aluminum finish on the exterior.
Where the New Buffalo Residence now stands on a wooded lot by the shores of Lake Michigan, there used to be a serpentine ranch house with perplexingly small windows, none of which pointed toward the water. The homeowners had used it as a vacation retreat for over 30 years before an expanding family—and guest list—led them to approach architecture firm Booth Hansen for a fresh design.
The home features a combination of interior and exterior living spaces that afford privacy to the occupants. “There are social spaces for everyone to be together, but also spots outside the building where people can have a private coffee—and that’s so important,” says architect Line Solgaard.
Replete with wood finishes, and glazing framed to match, the extension takes inspiration from Dutch courtyard paintings by "establishing monastic spaces that open to landscape and sky,
The home consists of three cottage-inspired forms that are connected by a more contemporary, flat-roofed central structure. “One of the main challenges was how to bring the competing aesthetics the clients desired—they sought a simple, historical vernacular architecture with a more contemporary aesthetic,” says architect Matthew Erickson.
The interiors were rebuilt with new materials that are sympathetic to the original graphic simplicity of the building.
Entirely clad in cedar shingles, the Unbridled Path residence is both familiar and contemporary through its use of materials and proportions. It was inspired by the typology of an iconic nearby family estate.
Built entirely from teak harvested on-site, this breezy solar-powered home in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, ticks all the right boxes for a pair of avid environmentalists who love surfing.
In the kitchen, a pair of Swell LED pendants by Pablo Pardo from Design Within Reach hang above an island lined with Industry West stools. The appliances are from KitchenAid.
The architects did not want "the operating theater" of can lights, so Ernesto designed a custom fixture consisting of a simple steel plate that disguises "cheap can lights," seen here in the upper hallway. "It looks like a $1,500 fixture, but it's like $300," he says.
Although it’s “veiled” from the street, the light-filled hideaway amplifies its connection to the outdoors.
