Rydingsvärd often cooks out on his terrace, which offers a view of Mount Royal. The volume housing the sauna is clad in cedar planks that were painted black. The door and windows are by Alumilex, and the custom outdoor shower is by Avantage Plus.
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.
In the rear of the house, a new addition extends the living space and adds a roof terrace off the second-floor master bedroom. A garden is accessible through a wall of sliding glass doors with Sapele mahogany frames, set back to control solar gain.
A grille of walnut slats, designed by Syme and made by the local millworkers MCM, delineates the edge of a new stair with open treads made of hot-rolled steel. Tall Bulthaup cabinets mark the edge of the dining area; Evans, a mechanical engineer, had them custom-made to conceal heating ducts that vent almost invisibly through the top edge.
Ceramic tile flooring mixes with local stone in the living room.
The valley city of Cuenca, Ecuador, unfurls around this residence in the hills. Nearby, a historic church offers tourists a similar but less private place to enjoy the view.
Scott and Regina’s toolkit of electronics extends outdoors. A Sonos sound system is installed on the patio and a retractable sunshade from DeFauw Design protects the kitchen cabinets’ gray Tabu veneer from fading.
After raising the rear patio to the level of the kitchen, the team reused the original redwood decking and supplemented it with recycled pieces from other projects. Recessed planters punctuate a garden wall. Scott and Regina warm themselves by a Solus fire pit on chilly evenings.
The main floor is arranged as one long, contiguous space, with a living area and balcony at the front end. An Aulia coffee table by Henk Vos, a pair of red Eames molded plywood chairs, and a Pelican chair by Finn Juhl center the space.
Though the house is sleekly modern—some visitors unaccustomed to contemporary architecture have said it looks like a spaceship—there are winks to old-time Americana throughout the property.
“When I come home, this is like a sanctuary. I open up the doors and sit outside and read, or work around the house,” says resident Colleen Nusinow.
A 22-foot sliding-glass door by Fleetwood opens onto an ipe deck furnished with lounge chairs, a cocktail table, and stools from Room & Board’s Penelope line. The bar is made of concrete and Richlite, a wood-fiber composite used in skateboard ramps.
A cantilevered ipe bench hugs a custom board-formed concrete fire pit.
Seeking more space and a seamless transition to the outdoors, Steve and Colleen Nusinow of Redondo Beach, California, turned to Robert Sweet.
Michael and Tamami brought greenery to the master bath courtyard, which is lined with Eco Arbor Designs deck tiles, in the form of succulents in a ceramic Peanut planter by John Follis for Architectural Pottery from Vessel. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
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.
The central living area features an open-plan kitchen, living space, and deck with views of Louttit Bay. To maximize energy savings, the house has a ducted reverse air cycle system from Fujitsu.
The homeowners wanted a simple, unfussy space. The walls throughout the home are painted in Dulux Swan White. Built-in cabinets are custom made in Tasmanian oak. The hanging pendants are from About Space and the wood-burning stove is a Morsø 7642 model.
Located in Queensland, Australia, the residence was created by Sarah Waller Design, an architectural studio that’s based in the Queensland suburb of Doonan. The glass pavilion–style home was designed for Sarah Waller and her family and sits on top of a polished concrete slab. Inspired by the midcentury era, it looks out to the Noosa Valley golf course.
