Large windows and sliding glass doors were placed in key spots in the new layout, with the rolling doors reinstalled to act as large “shutters,” says architect Doug Huntington.
The Cowell House located at 171 San Marcos Avenue in San Francisco, California, is currently listed for $3,700,000 by Bert Keane of Vanguard Properties.
Before: The kitchen was a compact U-layout that was closed off from the other living spaces.
The Rey stools are offered in five colors: Slate Blue, Deep Black, Scarlet Red, Golden, and Umber Brown (all pictured here except Umber Brown).
Before: Brooke and Tobi Probst bought their 1956 house in Portland, Oregon, during the pandemic in 2020. It has 2524 square feet, with generous living areas on the main floor. The kitchen was separated from the dining room and living room by a wall that did not meet the ceiling. That made it “easy to picture what it would be like open,” says Brooke.
Vince and Ayşe relax on a sofa that converts to a bunk bed in the living area, where a shade pulls down from a large picture window and provides a screen for the movie projector above the sofa.
Two pull-down compartments in the kitchen hide an electric cooktop and chopping block, while paper towels are tucked away in a curved yellow container. “I didn’t want anything out in the open,” Ash says.
Ash lives in the detached backyard unit and has comfortably hosted 10 people in the space.
The laneway house is just across a small shared patio behind Robert and Debra’s house.
The master bedroom upstairs also features a solid balustrade, with a V-shaped opening that is cleverly used to edit the view and make it more special and focused.
The site was previously owned by a couple who donated the original home for aged care use in 1968. In 2016, the three-storey, 24-unit building was privately sold, demolished and subdivided into six separate lots. These were sold with approved homes on them, and this site was the last one to be developed. Architect Jeffrey Bokey-Grant then convinced the clients to design a new home that would be suited to their specific needs.
Before: Lara White and Jason Stamp, both partners at Workaday Design, a collaborative architectural design and interiors studio, bought this 1922 Portland bungalow in 2012 with the intention of fixing it up.
The getaway protrudes like a sculpture from the hillside.
In Australia, a manufacturer and an architecture firm create an off-grid home that can be broken down and shipped across the world.
Before: At purchase, the listing for the home said electricity bills were less than $25/month, thanks to spray foam insulation and the solar array.
The house faces the east, so in the evening, sunsets can be enjoyed from the roof terrace but the view of the city below is visible from nearly every room in the house.
The LivingHomes YB1 is a customizable tiny house that can be built in a month and installed in one day.
With windows facing the lake, Donna and Oliver have a front-row seat to the action every day. "It’s water that you just want to look at every day because even though it's a vast plane it changes all the time," says Lolley.
The kitchen tap is a Pegasi M pulldown sink mixer from Faucet Strommen. The brass detail brings a sense of warmth to the kitchen island.
“I like that the house has a simple, almost abstract reading from the exterior—but the interior reveals an unexpected complexity of space, light, and aspect,” notes Ropiha.
The two-bedroom, two-bath Courtyard House is located in a clearing in the New South Wales coastal suburb of Hawks Nest, just a few minutes’ drive from the beach.
A pair of double doors leads to the large screened porch. At the ceiling, rafters underscore the skylight, casting shadows that mark the passage of the sun.