In an effort to root the home to its location, the team elected to use dry-stacked slate quarried from a nearby island for much of the main structure. “These walls are common in the Pelion area of Greece,” says Achilleas.
The dining table, a custom design by Formwork, and red Non chairs by Komplot complement the addition’s cypress cladding.
Birdsall and Atticus are seated on an ipe bench designed by Anna Boeschenstein; the stucco exterior cladding was matched to Cast Iron 6202 paint by Sherwin-Williams.
The dining room and upstairs view from the courtyard.
One of Herrman’s designs, the Enlightened Table, appears to reflect a lamp’s light, although nothing hangs overhead.
This open-ended box, lined in mirrored glass, performs like a kaleidoscope, amplifying the mature Melia tree’s presence within the dining room.
Lambert pours wine in the kitchen, which is defined by a low concrete-block wall and serves as the home’s central core. The seating-area chairs are from Herman Miller.
In Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood, architect Tiffany Bowie built an efficient house for her father, Dave, a retired engineer. A prototype system by Kirio monitors the home’s energy use. Shou sugi ban cladding in a herringbone pattern provides a striking backdrop.
© Juan Antonio Monsalve
T, The New York Times Style Magazine. Photo by Bruce Damonte.
This archetypal Swedish building form, shaped like a Monopoly house, serves as an artist’s studio, with a simple plywood interior and massive skylights to let in natural sunlight.
In an apartment overlooking São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Park—completed in 1954 to commemorate the city’s 400th anniversary—the furniture is as distinctive as the view. Architect Flavio Castro of FCstudio worked closely with the residents to update and outfit the home, which is appointed with a mix of contemporary and Brazilian modern classics. A pair of Sérgio Rodrigues’s Paraty armchairs (in foreground)—designed for Brasilia’s Itamaraty Palace in 1963—face a duo of Jader Almeida’s Isa armchairs in the living area. The green Ro lounge and ottoman are by Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hansen.
Large sliding doors connect the living room to both the courtyard and a covered porch on the western side of the house.
A stepped concrete garden planted with herbs and flowers marks the descent to the house. The courtyard is the focal point of the U-shaped structure; there is clear visibility between the kitchen on one side and the children's bedrooms on the other.
Designed by renowned Washington architect Robert Gurney, this home is a modern interpretation of historical revivalism. It spans over 8,000 square-feet and includes six bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms.
For larger spaces, Big Ass Solutions offers the more powerful Isis and Essence (pictured). Their ceiling fans come in a variety of sizes, from eight inches to 24 feet in diameter, to suit all rooms.
A small Arabian stud and a champion English Pointer live on the site, where mountain leopards and baboons also prowl. Before building, Herman and van Gass cleared the land of invasive species like the black wattle, an acacia tree.
In the living area, a dry packet stone fireplace frames a fire grate that was forged by an expert blacksmith.
Guests can relax by the pool and soak in the views or hike into the mountains, following a creek into an ancient forest.
The master bathroom and dressing room join the master bedroom as one open suite.
The husband’s home office is furnished by a Toot lounge chair by Piero Lissoni for Cassina, a vintage Desk BO69 by Finn Juhl, and a Swivel chair by Hans Wegner. A custom picture rail, filled with family photos, is made of bands of wood that keep contents in place.
The fourth-floor kitchen features appliances by Miele, and Heracleum II pendants by Bertjan Pot for Moooi hang over both the kitchen island and the dining table.
At night, subtle light fixtures provide soft ambient light. The lights “as discrete as possible, and aimed at the surfaces of the house, defining space and creating the kind of three dimensional modeling that is easy for the eye to interpret,” Snyder says. “It is relaxing, calming, provides plenty of light to live, and as much as possible eliminates visible bright hot spots or illuminated fixtures that call attention to themselves.”
Durable Douglas fir tongue-and-groove planks add warmth to the interior areas. The boards expand and contract with the seasonal humidity in a way that’s not readily noticeable, meaning the interiors will last for generations without bearing obvious signs of aging.
To further connect the indoor spaces with the New England landscape outside, glass walls in the living and dining areas slide open to eliminate the barriers between indoors and outdoors. Green slate tiles compose the flooring inside.
Inside, windows are strategically oriented to harness the power of fresh ocean breezes as a cooling device, reducing the need for large HVAC loads and maximizing areas where natural light can be used to illuminate rooms. The chimney centerpiece is clad in Vals Quartzite, a hard stone that provides a moment of cooling visual contrast in the otherwise warm living room.
Lodged in a hillside along the arid U.S.-Mexico border, an earthy family home absorbs grand vistas of El Paso, Texas, as well as Juárez, Mexico. A lap pool extends toward a canyon.
A swimming pool was on everyone’s wish list. Gray Organschi installed it on the east side of the house, along with an outdoor fireplace. The outside pathways and decks are paved in ipe and bluestone.
Oriented to absorb the afternoon sun, floor-to-ceiling doors comprise two-thirds of the home’s west-facing walls, which open to an elevated deck overlooking Island Bay. Combined with extra-thick building insulation, this passive element provides sufficient heating for the home, even during winter months—a true feat given the region’s cold seasonal winds.
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