“The pull-out drawer at the rear is a very large and sturdy storage space that can actually support my weight (although a bit scary) and was intended to be just stowage space really,” he says. “Once it was installed and we pulled it out, we discovered it was a great height for sitting at. And then the idea of a rather elaborate outdoor kitchen came up.”
Storage for ski equipment and clothing was built under the main bed.
Richens invested money in certain high-end items, like the stove and timber. “The stovetop is five times more expensive than it could be, but it works and looks 10 times better,” he says.
“The details, such as the fine joinery and fancy bits, took a while longer to get right,” says Richens, who custom-built every detail down to the silverware boxes. “The custom cutlery tray inserts were made to measure to fit the drawers. It was a bit of a flight of fancy, but once you're down the rabbit hole, you may as well keep going."
“The details in some of the woodwork gets into the realm of cabinetmaking—which, in retrospect, might have been taking things a bit far, but it was well worth the effort,” Jack says.
Jack Richens, the expert van renovator behind This Moving House, pulls out all the stops for this incredible conversion.
Richens transformed an empty delivery van into a cozy, 91-square-foot mobile hideaway.
“Segovia is a very central region, but an underdeveloped one,” de la Quadra-Salcedo says. “Traditionally devoted to agriculture and mainly livestock, it flourished in the sixteenth century but now that the older generations are disappearing, there is a problem of abandoned villages and fields.” The structure highlights the rural surroundings.
For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”
Architect Chris Knapp of Built-Environment Practice designed and completed construction of the Dragonfly within six months. Photo by Owen McGoldrick.
Photo by: Phillip Spears
Ziger/Snead Architects constructed this ode to rowing in rural Virginia for a Baltimore couple who share a love of sculling. “Everywhere in the house you can see the moment where land meets water,” says Douglas Bothner, an associate at the firm.
Cedar slats mark the facade of the Worple's lakefront vacation home in Ontario.
Gerard Kitchener and his partner Denise spend most weekends on top of an exposed hill in a two-level steel-and-glass tower on stilts.
While it was tempting to embed the cabin into the hillside, Balance Associates sought a smarter solution. By elevating the project on two concrete walls, the clients could avoid a costly foundation, improve their view of the landscape, and stay above the thick winter snowfall.
The bank of windows on the rear facade faces a lush hillside. "The prototypical country house wants to look over and out on the land," says Rappe. "This house looks at the slope upward. It makes for a different sense of space." Rappe was very careful to ensure that the house would not be visible from the existing properties and that neighboring houses would not be visible from within his design. "We wanted to do a home that was attractive to our clients but not too obtrusive to neighbors," he adds. "We wanted to be good modernists."
All-vinyl siding on the original shell was replaced with natural plywood T1-11 cladding. The second story features engineered brushbox wood plank, as well as Batu decking for the railing and lanai (a sheltered, open-sided patio).
“There was the challenge of how to build appropriately on such a sublime and pristine site,” explains Pejic. “It is akin to building a house in a natural cathedral.”
The architects designed the rooms as a linear sequence wrapping around a central courtyard. As one would have traversed the preexisting rock face, residents are constantly negotiating small elevation changes throughout the house. The plan also protects a central courtyard from the harsh Yucca Valley climate.
The pool is framed by angular concrete paths reflecting the natural geometry of the site.
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.
This tree house in Sweden with a mirrored exterior by Tham and Videgård Arkitekter is just large enough to host two people.
Clad in Western red cedar siding and punctuated with floor-to-ceiling windows, this minimalist two-bedroom home boasts sunrise views over the Sonoma hills.
The 800-square-foot house is among the first shipping container residences in San Diego County, according to Mike. He hopes it will soon by joined by a larger container home on the property, at which point it will become the guesthouse.
Finished in 2013, the 3,660-square-foot Casa Incubo was built from stacking and sliding four shipping containers to create a residence and gallery for photographer Sergio Pucci (who took all the photos of his new home). Set on flat ground, the two-story structure ended up being much easier for architect Maria Jose Trejos to complete than a typically constructed home, saving roughly 20 percent of the cost of a standard concrete block design.
