Where the New Buffalo Residence now stands on a wooded lot by the shores of Lake Michigan, there used to be a serpentine ranch house with perplexingly small windows, none of which pointed toward the water. The homeowners had used it as a vacation retreat for over 30 years before an expanding family—and guest list—led them to approach architecture firm Booth Hansen for a fresh design.
White shelving blends in seamlessly with the crisp, white walls.
The concrete cladding contrasts with warm orange teak.
Custom millwork and cabinetry can be a great way to add storage while keeping the hallway looking clean, neat, and bright. Cut-outs in the doors instead of knobs or cabinet handles ensure that hardware doesn't take up any extra space in the narrow corridor.
An IKEA desk and SKI wooden provide working accommodations in the study, overlooking the main living space.
Wherever possible, Shively looked to work with local craftsmen. For example, all of the cabinetry was made by Lambright Woodworking, an Amish company in Indiana, and custom doors and trim were made by Jarzab Construction, a team of local Polish carpenters.
Work It
“We wanted to open up the back of the house, but there’s nothing to look at,” says Dana. “So we decided to put something in our yard as a focal point, to create our own view.” The architects came up with a glass-walled studio, which Dana uses as
her home office. The architects mounted a steel I-beam that spans the yard, with holes drilled at eight-inch intervals for maximum flexibility of use. Right now it’s used for Ikea play equipment, but later they plan to hang a hammock and a movie screen.
ikea.com
Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, with project manager and lead designer Emily Kudsen Leland at the helm, remade a Portland abode with a crisp paint palette: Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron for the cladding and Venetian Gold for the front door. The home was originally designed by Saul Zaik in Southwest Portland, complete with a wood-clad exterior, in 1956. As part of the renovation, landscape design was completed by Lilyvilla Gardens.
When envisioning the perfect home for their family, Kiley and Jim agreed that accessibility was paramount—access to the outdoors, and access for their daughters, Langley and Boelyn, who have special needs and rely on their wheelchairs to get around. After purchasing a narrow lot in Downers Grove, Illinois, the couple reached out to Chicago-based firm Kuklinski + Rappe Architects to design a residence that would serve their daughters, their son Huck, and their own various needs. Crafted to adapt to the family's lifestyle over the years, the home will provide lifelong health and happiness.
all photographs by www.polviladoms.com
Crump played with the traditional gable roof form common to Australian farmhouses and transformed it into something entirely modern. The house’s three distinct ridgelines follow each other in succession, their simple contours conjuring a cartoon lightning bolt. The wood cladding covering the exterior also lends the house an impenetrable feel, heightening the surprise visitors experience upon entering and seeing its open, seaside views.
Built with a steel frame, the Frost House features panels of styrofoam between aluminum sheets for the exterior walls and styrofoam between plywood for the roof and floors. Bold, primary colors accentuate its geometric form.
Shortly after Karen Valentine and Bob Coscarelli purchased the home in 2016, they began to unearth nuggets of information about its pedigree. Their realtor had provided a brochure that identified the prefab as designed by architect Emil Tessin for the now-defunct Alside Homes Corporation based out of Akron, Ohio, which had held a patent for the structure’s aluminum paneling. Their new neighbors provided a stack of Alside Homes sales materials, floor plans of various models, and even a script that had been written for salespeople during home tours. They determined that the Frost House had been a sales model for the company, and that Tessin had been the son of Emil Albert Tessin, the legal guardian of Florence Knoll.
The new house numbers are the Aurele 6" Matte Black House Numbers from CB2, while the streamlined mailbox is a Wayfair find.
A pair of Icelandic prefab pioneers deliver an efficient family home in Culver City.
Building smarter is at the heart of everything designers Tryggvi Thorsteinsson and Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir do. Whether they’re testing the limits of indoor/outdoor living or developing a prefabricated wall system that they hope will make traditional wood framing a thing of the past, the founders of the Santa Monica design studio Minarc are consumed with making structures stronger, lighter, and more efficient.
Jay and Jaclyn Lieber worked with Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson of Minarc to design a house using the designers’ mnmMOD panels, which can be assembled with a screw gun. The core of the home was kept open to maximize natural light. Clerestory windows, walnut cabinetry, and concrete floors define the living room, which features a sectional by Jessica McClendon of Glamour Nest, who consulted on the furnishings, a Nesta rug from Design Within Reach, a Moooi Random Light from YLighting, and Hecks ottomans from Blu Dot.
Front outdoor space
view from the west
view of entry
Entry Courtyard
Double terrace views
north elevation