Davor (with his wife, Abbe, and son, August) designed the main living and dining pavilion as a double-height space to increase its perceived volume, and added high cubbies for extra storage.
Two hours north of New York City, an unusual barn emerges from a hill just off a country road. Its black siding and bright-red window frames hint at the imaginative playground inside. This space, with its rope-railed catwalk and indoor tent, is just one element of the multifaceted getaway architecture and design firm BarlisWedlick Architects designed for fund manager Ian Hague.
This photo of Sævik Retreat, a 1960s artist’s retreat in southeastern Norway designed by Irene Sævik (featured in Dwell in November 2013) will be displayed in the Scandinavian pavilion at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles.
Photo by Ivan Brodey.
Mike's second-floor office features locally-sourced cabinetry.
Photo credit: Dale Christopher Lang PhD AIAP
Every room and suite has a streamlined work area. The wall-mounted desk is made from American Elm salvaged by the local company Alborica. The drawers and cabinets are made from Valchromat, an organically tinted wood fiber board manufactured from forest waste and residue collected from timber mills. The Emeco Navy chair is made in the U.S. with 80% recycled aluminum.
The brightly lit cafe boasts ample tables and seating for patrons to read, converse, or catch up on work. "The main objective was to create an environment where people in the community would come, hang out and stay for a while," says Nema.
Composer and podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway hangs guitars and a bass from wall-mounts in his Echo Park home to conserve space.
The living room fireplace is tiled with military-issue dog tags.
The study features floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that bring the outdoors in. Space-saving custom walnut desks are accented by a Pixo Optical LED Table Lamp, an AJ table lamp, and a 1958 Eames Management Chair.
View of kitchen and main bay window upon entry into primary living space.
Island Life
The appealing, handcrafted appearance of the concrete kitchen island is a happy accident, the result of the concrete not settling fully in its timber framing. When the framing was
removed, the builder, Peter Davidson, was worried that Davor and Abbe would be disappointed with the bubbled result and offered to start the process again, but they loved its one-off feeling and persuaded him to keep it that way.
With São Paulo on one side and a terrace and garden on the other, the Strozenbergs’ living room feels vast. The sofa is a Harry Large by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia and the coffee table behind Ticiana Strozenberg (with baby) is a vintage design by Geraldo de Barros. The custom wood paneling throughout the house is by Fiamoncine, as are the window treatments.
A consistent wood palette makes the interior feel cohesive.
The architects designed the large dining table, which is framed by the open kitchen, the wood-burning stove, and the garden beyond.
Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot.
This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.
When they are eventually integrated into the parks, the cabins are meant to stand in groups of ten to 15.
Teaming up with architect Craig Steely, an industrial designer and a mechanical engineer find just the right design for a striking home on a San Francisco hill. Photo by Ian Allen.
The library is lined in reclaimed spotted gum that Maynard says “brings with it wisdom from its previous life.” A stained glass window by Leigh Schellekens makes the contemplative room feel like a domestic chapel.
The light fixtures, a string of dangling lights seen above the dining table, emulate what SHED Architects principal Thomas Schaer calls Zema’s “builderly” style: straightforward and unpretentious. The wooden screens, seen top right, are all-new to the house but follow Zema’s Japanese-inspired style.
An angular brushed-stainless-steel sink and a painted plywood vanity in the third floor’s master bathroom are custom. The general contractor built the vanity and comissioned the sink from New York’s Master Restaurant Equipment. Back-painted glass panels by Bendheim clad the walls, and the fixtures are from California Faucets. Recessed lighting surrounds the perimeter of the Circle Redmont skylight, and the wall sconce over the Robern mirror is from Glashütte Limburg.
The architect has a track record of stripping away elements of excess to create simple, livable, and well-lit spaces that feel larger than they are. This downstairs bathroom features a simple white ceramic tiles and a sliding white oak door.
A soaking tub satisfies both “bath people” and “shower people” as bathers wash outside the tub, then soak in clean, deep hot water. The owner of this penthouse asked Roberts Hot Tubs for a teak tub next to his shower. Soaking tubs can have straight or sloping sides and can be any shape. They use more water than regular tubs, but since bathers soak when clean, it’s common to add a re-circulating heater and filter. Tub makers offer wooden lids to keep the water hot - in Japan the same water is typically used by the whole family. Photo courtesy of: Roberts Hot Tubs
Counter and basin mixer (€6,100).
Selective D.I.YNix and Novak-Zemplinski made the narrow concrete sinks with tilted basins in the bathrooms. “We couldn’t find any sinks we liked,” says Nix. “So we decided to make our own. But those are the most expensive sinks ever, at least in terms of man-hours.” Novak-Zemplinski concurs—while they are happy with the way the sinks turned out, “one of the lessons we learned is that some things are not worth doing yourself.”
In the bathroom, a teak live-edge countertop and custom yellow cabinet support a double wash basin by Duravit. A mirror from Restoration Hardware hangs below custom lights, designed by the homeowner for a steampunk look.
Open rectangular cutouts in modern wood cabinetry were the way to go in this bathroom vanity.
Inkstone wash-basins in Black Rock stone with Neos furniture, made from solid-walnut with Basaltina stone fronts (Neos furniture designed by Luca Martorano).
In the bathroom, the twins take advantage of a custom-built Corian sink and wooden base with integrated step when it’s time to wash up.
If there were a theme song for architect Christi Azevedo’s rehabilitation of the crumbling 1885 abode she purchased in San Francisco’s Mission District, it would have to be “Love the One You’re With.” Instead of an extreme makeover, the self-described modernist undertook a thoughtful refurbishment—–preserving trim,
retaining the layout, making furniture from framing lumber excavated from the site, and fabricating new elements as needed. Musing on the Victorian hybrid that she shares with her partner, Katherine Catlos, Azevedo notes, “I think the world will look more and more like Blade Runner, where you have an old Chevy Nova as well as some crazy thing flying through the air. There’s room for both.”
“The only clearly defined room within the house is the en-suite,” Simpson notes of the home’s sole bathroom. A Villeroy & Boch toilet and Caroma basin are both mounted to the walls.
Architectural designer Sebastian Mariscal and project manager Jeff Svitak created a house in Venice, California, for Michael and Tamami Sylvester. Known as Dwell Home Venice for its role as an exemplification of modern architecture, the house is an homage to indoor-outdoor living. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
Visitors to the home are greeted by a George Nelson Bubble pendant in the entryway, a striking counterpoint to the home’s traditional shingle facade.
