The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.
Suzanne and Brooks Kelley at the back of their 1,100-square-foot guest cottage.
Composed of 220 aluminum "light shelves," the solar reflector screen is the focal point of the front façade. The home takes advantage of its Southern exposure, using the reflector screen to funnel sunlight and warmth deep into the interior space.
Nicknamed the Floating Farmhouse, this 200-year-old home inspired one former copywriter to delve into architecture as a living. Inside, renovator and owner Tom Givone mixes vintage and industrial decor. Photo by Mark Mahaney.
Setsumasa and Hideaki toss on the rain fly. The solar panel in the foreground supplies daytime electricity.
Jason lounges in one of two armchairs by midcentury designer Milo Baughman in the parlor-floor living room. The wood block coffee table is by Eric Slayton, a friend of the couple, and the modular Carmo sofa is from BoConcept. A 1952 piece by French industrial designer Serge Mouille, the Three-Arm Floor Lamp—widely referred to as the "Praying Mantis," for its looming trio of arms—is a nod to the couple’s love of Parisian interiors; a branch-like chandelier by Los Angeles–based artist Gary Chapman hangs overhead.
Whether you’re battling noise or are short on space, these guides can turn your office into a distraction-free zone.
The house and studio were christened "Dragon Rock" by their daughter Ann who said the rock formation resembled a dragon sipping from the pool. The pool was created by feeding a waterfall into to the pit. Seen here is a floating sculpture by current artist-in-resident Stephen Talasnik.
With clean white stucco cladding and unusual angles, the three-module house stands out from the surrounding neighborhood, which features mostly post-war, one-and-a-half story homes.
The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.
After searching in vain for an empty lot to build on, architect Brian White settled for a nondescript 1960s ranch that nobody else wanted—and proved that building from the ground up doesn’t always start on the ground.
When Jennifer and Mattias Segerholt decided to move to Portland after five years in Los Angeles, a shared climate-based trepidation shaped their real estate search.
Aaron and Yuka Ruell transformed a 1950s Portland ranch house into a retro-inspired family home with plenty of spaces for their four children to roam. In the kitchen, interior designer Emily Knudsen Leland replaced purple laminate cabinets with flat-sawn eastern walnut, and added PentalQuartz countertops in polished Super White for contrast. The kitchen island is clad with original red tiles, and hanging cabinets above it were removed to maximize light and family-room views.
Designed in 1972 by local architect Edgar Waehrer, this home was renovated by creative director Ben Watson and his partner, painter Claudio Tschopp. As a later example of Northwest modernism, the home combined the clean lines and open plans of mid-century modernism with an emphasis on natural local materials and natural light. However, while the 16-foot ceilings in the home gave a sense of airiness, the plentiful wood paneling on the walls kept it dark and feeling damp, and so the couple bleached the walls to better reflect natural light.
Architect Ben Waechter wrapped the upper floor of Nick Oakley’s house in inexpensive black corrugated steel. By rounding the corners, Waechter avoided unsightly trim at the edges.
Scott Pitek designed this gabled structure for Betty Rahman on a 5,000-square-foot lot in Portland, Oregon.
Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, with project manager and lead designer Emily Kudsen Leland at the helm, remade a Portland abode with a crisp paint palette: Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron for the cladding and Venetian Gold for the front door. The home was originally designed by Saul Zaik in Southwest Portland, complete with a wood-clad exterior, in 1956. As part of the renovation, landscape design was completed by Lilyvilla Gardens.