In realizing their dream to build a country retreat in upstate New York, Sandy Chilewich and Joe Sultan—proprietors of the textiles firm Chilewich|Sultan—eschewed a mountainous view for an understated wooded plot. At 800 square feet, the flat-roofed home is a modest structure for the expansive 10-acre property.
Nakada works from an Alvar Aalto table in the living and dining area, adjacent to the kitchen. He saved on some elements, such as the plywood cabinetry, and splurged on others, such as the Finn Juhl chairs and Vilhelm Lauritzen lamp. A skylight beneath the angled roof allows in a sliver of constantly changing light.
Architect Gustavo Costa calls the home library the “project’s heart.” This central space houses the owner’s expansive collection of about 5,000 books, and acts as a meeting place for friends and colleagues. A Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Red and Blue chair completes the space.
The studio’s second floor serves as a library. The sunken bathtub offers interrupted sightlines across the space and out into the backyard. The tub, like the library’s floor, is made of concrete.
The Li Yuan Library’s coffered walls provide a built-in storage solutions for all those books. Li Xiaodong, Li Yuan Library, Jiaojiehe Village, Huirou, Beijing, China. Photo by Li Xiaodong Atelier.
When the firm first arrived on the site, the second floor of the property was so badly damaged that it was at risk of collapsing. The first floor was remade with shotcrete for reinforcement, and two walls of the first floor were “rebuilt in rendered polystyrene blockwork to reduce the weight of the building while providing a thick insulating layer,” Simpson says.
Here, the Library Bar, which is equally dark and richly textured, a marked difference from the scruffy Garment District neighborhood right outside.
Studio Junction transformed a two-story apartment above Mjölk, Juli Daoust and John Baker’s design boutique on Toronto’s busy Dundas Street West, into a tranquil space. A courtyard joins the living room and the open kitchen and dining area.
The rear of the house looks onto a lush backyard. The rough, industrial prefabricated concrete panels by the German manufacturer Syspro are the building blocks of the home.
Master shower with a view
Master bath
Built-in bed with a killer view!
Custom birch plywood bunkbed
Emilie Bédard and Maria Rosa Di Ioia of EM Architecture gave Erik Rydingsvärd’s top-floor apartment in a Montreal triplex a subdued, modern look that evokes his native Denmark. The range hood and satin-finished teak cabinets are by Kastella. The floors are Douglas fir and the walls are spruce, painted white.
After an unprecedented year of earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires, a bright light has been shed on the benefits of building with concrete.
Katie and Danny MacNelly met as University of Virginia architecture students and started their own practice, ARCHITECTUREFIRM, along with another former UVA classmate. Together, the couple designed and built their family’s country retreat, a three-volume residence near Virginia’s James River.
Designer Paola Navone transformed a 200-year-old factory in Umbria into an inviting home for Andrea Falkner-Campi and her husband. Once a tobacco-drying plant, and before that a silkworm farm, the home sits 90 miles north of Rome.
Futuristic floating stairs lead to the loft’s mezzanine. Throughout the lower level, natural stone was chosen for the flooring, laid at an irregular angle to add visual interest.