“Everything needed to be approachable and simple,” says Hilary. “The house reflects who we are.”
The Blue Sky prototype house leads a second life as desert getaway for David McAdam and his partner Scott Smith.
The carport stands apart from the home and is topped with Solar World’s Sun Module photovoltaic panels. McAdam and Smith have grown quite used to their small electric bills.
Residence and Atelier of Patrick Y Wong
Copyright Case # 1-266025680 Filed October 27, 2009
The pop of orange as an accent color is picked up in the carport.
Just adjacent to the house is Whitlock's small shed which houses many of the tools that he used to build the home.
Two of chef André Chiang’s restaurants have appeared on the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. So it makes sense that at his new home in Taiwan, which he largely designed himself, the kitchen takes center stage. To outfit it, André worked with Vipp, the maker of everything from the black steel island and stainless-steel countertops to the faucets, cabinets, shelves, pendant light fixtures—even the tea kettle and trash bin.
Whereas others might look at a board-formed cement wall in a basement and see, well, a concrete wall, Jess and Jonathan Taylor, the design duo behind the L.A.-based firm Taylor + Taylor, were inspired. The couple had purchased a virtually untouched 1952 house in east L.A. and that concrete wall became the backdrop for a new guest kitchen in the basement. "It was really the starting point of the whole design," says Jess Taylor. "As designers, our goal is to always try to incorporate the existing surroundings whenever possible, utilize them in practical ways, and be inspired by them."
This kitchen is outfitted with concrete counters and floors and off-grid-friendly low-energy appliances. The ceiling is paneled in reclaimed barn wood.
This artfully minimalist Australian kitchen combines concrete, oak, steel, and prefabricated panels with a substantial marble countertop and backsplash.
This Denver kitchen sets a marble backsplash, that continues up the wall as the backsplash for a display shelf, against walnut cabinetry and countertops of an alternate gray material.
Zachary brought in new counter stools from Rejuvenation.
The existing cabinets were painted Card Room Green by Farrow & Ball.
Since there was plenty of storage, Zachary took down the upper cabinets and replaced them with a Logan wall rack from Lostine.
Before: The existing layout was functional, and it was kept as is.