Churtichaga and de la Quadra-Salcedo purchased a parcel of former farmland to build their vacation home twelve years ago but only recently completed the house—a timber-clad minimalist structure expertly designed to disappear into the scenic landscape.
The Weber residence sits comfortably in the rich, green Wisconsin valley.
The newly built house, just feet from the water’s edge, occupies the space where a decaying farmhouse once stood.
A central wood-burning fireplace efficiently heats the whole home, minimizing the need for supplemental in-floor heating incorporated in the concrete floors. Natural cross-ventilation is achieved through the use of CO2 directed grills at the north and south of the home, an added green feature that further reduces the ecological footprint.
In Elizabeth Beach, Australia, architect Shane Blue of Bourne Blue Architecture designed a 2,800-square-foot house with four bedrooms and two bathrooms on a sloping site. "The home is designed to be private and sheltered from the west and south, yet open to the north and east," Blue says.
The structure's white stucco second story nods to the architecture of traditional tree houses and is used as sleeping quarters for the owner’s children. The leaves of the central oak tree can be seen peaking out above the façade.
Photo by Patrick Barta
By putting solar power and recycled materials to use, Eric Garcetti and his partner transformed a mid-century house on a cozy hillside plot into a sustainable home with garden terraces and panoramic views. Photo by Misha Gravenor.
Consisting of two barnlike volumes set atop a stone foundation, the Depot House by Gray Organschi Architecture offers a locally rooted vision of New England modernism.
Arba, the architecture firm founded by Jean-Baptiste Barache and Sihem Lamine, designed a 1,786-square-foot residence for Dominique Jacquot 45 minutes outside Paris. The house is her sanctuary from city life.
The house has four varieties of wood that relate to one another with a similar material vocabulary. “It is all about finding ways to assemble pieces of the same nature,” says Lamine.
Nestled in two and a half acres of land near Boone, North Carolina, Chad Everhart renovates an old farmhouse and turns it into a modest residence. Image courtesy Chad Everhart Architect.
The streamlined shape of the home kept slab, framing, and roofing costs down, Pavonetti explains. A barn red shade on the front door adds a touch of farmhouse whimsy to the modern structure.
“When you’re working on something inexpensive and then decide you don’t like it, fine. You’re not tearing down millions of kroners worth of work.” —Mette Lyng Hansen
"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."
Douglas fir walls and beams extend to the exterior of a weekend house near Golden, British Columbia. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Bohlin Grauman Miller Architects, it was designed for an active family that likes to hit the slopes. A chalet-like pitched roof emphasizes its cabin feel.
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