The house floats out over the hillside, minimizing its impact on the landscape, while taking advantage of surrounding views. The design, which places the primary living spaces on the upper floor, leaves flexibility to add an additional bedroom underneath in the future.
The back patio and fire-pit area are central entertaining spaces. When the weather is nice, homeowner Joan and Ken wheel their dining room table outside for parties and dinners with friends. The fire pit was built using a steel cut-off from a natural gas tank.
Here's a wider view of the exterior.
“Initially, we proposed fewer glass panes to control sunlight and energy loss,” says architect Daniel Iragüen. “But in the end, we made the house almost completely transparent.”
Madison points out that the pod concept would make it easy to add an extension if necessary. “We see it as a house that can grow with us—and that we can pay for as we go along.”
The fittings are from Interceramic, while the light fixtures are from LEDS C4.
"Sleeping under the large curved skylight, with its opening that unfolds like a leaf, and watching hawks glide overhead is magical,
The exterior of the home is clad in Norway spruce. All of the windows are from Velfac, with the sliders from Schuco.
Set in Cadaqués, Casa Rumeu has a traditional stone facade and a surprising, hexagonal plan—with no right angles in sight.
mino
The muted grey coloured ceramic cladding enjoys a quiet synergy with its surroundings as it mirrors the silvery bark of the bare trees in winter.
An outdoor breezeway between the storage shed and the main house is ideal for outdoor dining.
Architect Ana Smud’s residence in the Vicente López suburb of Buenos Aires is surrounded by gardens and wrapped in timber, concrete, and glass.
The studio opens out to a large verandah, which features a six-foot-long vintage French trough sink. The creative couple use it for soaking willow prior to weaving and washing out cyanotype prints. “We had an epic search for the right sleepers for the verandah,” says Miriam. “Eventually, we found some Jarrah sleepers. Our daughter is called Jarrah and it’s an Australian timber, so it felt right.”
The cozy living area features a refurbished Børge Mogensen chair and a Recover sofa from Bolia. The coffee table was sourced from Jotex.
Firebrick lines both the wall and floor so that the fire can be lit right on the ground for an ultra-cozy night in.
Almost every room in the extension has direct access to the outside so the relationship with the grounds is immediate. In addition, carefully considered windows frame views of the surrounding landscape—especially the large window facing the valley in the first-floor living space. “It’s incredibly joyful to see how the views, smells, and emotion of being in the extension changes throughout the different seasons,” says architect Je Ahn. “It’s very tranquil and a retreat in the true sense of the word.”
The studio is wrapped in corrugated Cor-Ten steel, while the ends are composed of charred reclaimed cedar.
Whether it’s cross-country skiing in the winter or trail running in the summer, the 330-foot home’s minimalist design encourages Catherine to be outside in the surrounding landscape throughout the year.
Three of the house’s walls are finished in cork on the lower level, and the upper portion of all the walls is clad in poplar bark from lumber cut in the Appalachian Mountains. The bark would typically have been a waste product in the timber-harvesting process.
25 more saves