“Built with a double skin, the exterior comprises a permeable black-stained accoya timber batten screen, camouflaging the house as though an agricultural building. The roof and facades stretch along the same plane, in a simple and clear gesture,” note the architects.
Located on a 13-acre property filled with meadows and wetlands, this home was once a lackluster complex of three midcentury structures—until vonDalwig Architecture unified them with a carefully considered renovation.
Even as the square footage of this cottage in Fayston, Vermont, shrank in response to budget constraints, architect Elizabeth Herrmann remained focused on making the space feel warm and functional for a family of four and their dog and cat. "I think the trick to making small spaces feel much larger is to design the experience of being there,
The exterior palette and form of the house complements the natural environment.
Light oak panels by Finsa clad both the kitchen cabinetry and the built-in units that appear in the living room and entryway. "We used natural materials where we could, but we were also mindful of keeping high-touch surfaces durable," explains Anne-Marie Armstrong, co-principal of AAmp Studio.
Top 10 Black Gable Homes of 2020: A dramatic take on an archetypal shape, these pitch-roofed residences cut a striking figure.
In the open-plan living area, one of the highlights is the natural light-filled kitchen from Italian manufacturer Armony.
A fire pit between two wings of the home encourages outdoor living.
The verandas provide a threshold between the internal and external spaces. “They soften the abrupt change and mediate the relationship between inside and out,” says architect Ben Shields.
Five cabins are located in the pine forest surrounding the main house. “The design for both the main house and cabins at Saltwater Farm resulted from studying traditional Pacific Northwest cabins and refining that vernacular language with one of Scandinavian minimalism,” says designer Taylor Bode.
The modern dwelling incorporates its woodsy-yet-urban surrounds through copious glazing.
The materials, Japanese-style burnt wood, Canadian dark wood, and concrete, accentuate simplicity while simultaneously adding depth.
A simple floor plan emphasizes the rugged materiality of this elongated, cabin-style home in Valle de Bravo.
The kitchen features a mix of rammed-earth walls, strandboard-and-bamboo cabinets, and stainless steel counters. The appliances are by Fisher & Paykel, the faucet is by Plumbline, and the pendants are by Bruck.
A dramatic roof overhang with Douglas Fir soffits and rammed earth walls frame the entrance.
Set on a family cattle farm in a Western Australia coastal town on the Margaret River, Bush House, by Archterra founder Paul O'Reilly, marries a single-plane roof with a prefabricated steel frame support structure. A rammed-earth wall carries through O'Reilly's house into the outdoors, melding with oiled plywood, anodized aluminum, and recycled furniture.
"A well-performing house extension facing south on a small inner-city block built in rammed earth is not easy to achieve," said Welsch. "However, in this challenge was our opportunity: We decided that our extension will curl around to capture the sun, creating a communal courtyard and allowing the occupants to look at their own house rather than a paling fence."
Apart from the local topography, the residence also draws inspiration from natural light, which seeps in via carefully articulated crevices.
"We originally proposed using concrete for the walls because we like the plain style and directness," the owners say. Instead of concrete, Smith suggested rammed earth, a material that combines some of the physical properties of concrete, but is less "psychologically cold." The 16-inch-thick walls' thermal mass helps to insulate the interior from heat in the summer and cold in the winter.
"Rammed earth is complicated," says Smith, "so have the right expectations, do the research, and hire the right people." David Easton—who Smith calls "The Godfather of Rammed Earth"—headed the contracting team that built the walls.
David Easton, a pioneer in the field of rammed-earth construction, developed sturdy blocks made from recycled and waste material and then used them to build a house for himself and his wife, Cynthia Wright, in collaboration with designer Juliet Hsu.
Architect Hank Louis worked with Navajo tribe elders to secure a 66-year lease on a half-acre lot in the middle of Bluf, Utah, for Rosie Joe and her children. The facade of their off the grid house is made up of exposed wood, red rammed earth, and glass.
Marrying the interior with the outdoors informed the design, as did the concept of subtraction: “If you do it with two, then you can do it with one,” Maniatis says, articulating Roger’s algebra of minimalism. Photo by: Kirk Gittings
The site already had a pool when Anacapa Architecture began planning the design of the clubhouse. To merge the two structures more organically, the architects introduced stadium-like seating that descends from the clubhouse's second-floor deck down to the pool area.
Geremia Design worked with lighting designer Rosie Li to engineer and fabricate a large-scale map installation inspired by elevation markers. Light bulbs pinpoint nine summits and points of interest across the Yosemite Valley. Bay Area–based artist Avila Rose Signs used silver lead to hand-paint the Merced River running through the map; the lines glint in the afternoon sun.
In the reception area, Geremia Design called upon Chambers Art & Design to co-design and engineer a stretched fabric screen depicting Yosemite's Half Dome. The pendant lighting is by Workstead.
The clubhouse's palette of cool concrete, pine, and steel makes rustic refined. The assortment of seating in the clubhouse's main area allows guests to occupy every space, but it still feels intimate with one or two people.
Heating and cooling are essential for Yosemite's snowy winters and broiling summers. Glass walls along all sides of the clubhouse fold away to let air in—or slide shut to insulate the space from the temperature outside.
The giant windows make you feel as if you are standing amidst the tree canopy.
The exterior combines charred cedar siding, cedar beams, and black cement board siding. “Black may seem like an extreme choice sometimes,” says Howe. “It would be hard to imagine any other color though. It sits lovely in the woods. It falls into the shadows in the summer, under the canopy, and it blends with the dark tree trunks in the winter.”
A large screened porch makes alfresco entertaining easy.
Downstairs in the guest quarters, a Murphy bed provides another sleeping spot, and a casual TV room is outfitted with a rustic-yet-modern aesthetic.
Sleeping berths are curtained off to provide privacy in the guest quarters.
The clay tiles in the master suite’s shower were cut and fired by hand. The natural, textured tiles vary in color, and they were fired with a high-gloss finish, giving the shower the appearance of a shimmering cave.
Off the master bedroom and bath, a large deck provides expansive views of the forest.
The entire third floor is dedicated to the master suite, which is isolated from the rest of the house.
A partition wraps the stairway from the basement to the third-floor master suite. Its form was inspired by the way light filters through the trees in the forest.
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