Designed for a creative couple from Los Angeles seeking a quiet retreat, this 380-square-foot sanctuary was conceived as something between a tent structure and a viewfinder: Openings draw focus to specific views across Great Oyster Bay and the Freycinet Peninsula while providing immediacy to the vegetated dunes of Dolphin Sands. From burying the utilities to paving access around the undulating terrain, Matt Williams Architects made every effort possible to minimize their encroachment on the site and blend the structure into the landscape.
Solar panels create a geometric pattern on the roof of the ADU.
Designed by Arba, the retreat’s enclosed garden provides outdoor space out of the wind while the cuts give it a strong connection with the setting.
Antonin Yuji Maeno and Kelsea Crawford founded Cutwork to "rethink spaces to make them more elastic in their usage,
The kitchen bookends an open-plan layout that also includes a dining area and living room. Full-height windows help create a sense of spaciousness and open the living areas to the backyard.
To make the two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath dwelling look and feel as large as possible, Sundius and Ichiki maintained sightlines from one end to the other. "We didn’t want to disrupt the flow of the stepped ceiling as it runs the length of the building,
The cabin’s drawing compass A-frame has an organic feel that blends with the environment.
For the duo of young architects behind the firm Atherton Keener, the harsh, ever-changing light of Phoenix, Arizona, desert served as inspiration for their minimal and malleable home.
A lone saguaro marks the southwest corner of Thomas and Laura Hyland’s property, which is situated adjacent to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. The structure’s main living volume is elevated and faced in glass, overlooking a descending pathway that leads to a pool tucked into the site.
The spacious home's floor plan.
Busick refreshed the house’s east-facing façade by painting the trim a bold black that echoes the steel addition at the rear.
In the living room, Busick left the original brick walls and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling exposed, while he refinished the white oak flooring with a walnut stain. “We edited the newer renovations to the historic home down to the fundamental elements,” he explains. A gray Delos Sofa by Control Brand sits cozily in front of a window.
A skylight illuminates the neutral master bathroom, letting bathers contemplate the clouds. The faucets and tub are by Brizo, and the sinks are SlabHaus.
Walnut integrated refrigerator ans kitchen cabinets.
The house features Bayerwald sliding windows and highly insulated fixed glass; low-VOC paint from Benjamin Moore; and big overhangs to the south to shield summer sun and allow winter light. It was important to the family to integrate sustainable materials and strategies.
The lower floor houses a spa, gym, and office. A built-in bathroom by Espace Cuisine includes a sauna.
In the dining area, a Guild chandelier hangs above a table and chairs from Carl Hansen.
Sustainability was top of mind for Tribe who, chose a highly efficient French Philippe Chemise fireplace—a justifiable extravagance that heats the entire home.
The house draws its name, “Pleats,” from the corrugated metal that wraps the gabled volume, reminiscent of the pleated exterior of the Saguaro cactus.
Natural light is filtered through the perforated, corrugated metal patio shade, creating changing patterns on the exposed aggregate concrete floors in the morning