Top 5 Homes of the Week With Sophisticated Stairways
These modern staircases make the climb worth it. Check out the spiral, wood, metal, and double-height designs from the Dwell community that caught our editor's eye this week.
Featured homes were submitted by members of the Dwell community through our Add a Home feature. Add your home to Dwell.com/homes today.
1. MG House
Maya Sheinberger redesigned the MG House so that each floor would be more cohesive. The first floor was developed alongside the landscape design, the second floor shifts according to the family's needs, and the eldest daughter lives on the third floor.
Photo by Itay Benit
Architect and interior designer: Maya Sheinberger, Location: Hod Hasharon, Israel
From the architect and interior designer: "Before the renovation, the house was country-style, dark, and old-fashioned. The colors chosen for the house are very calm, combining a great deal of wood and shades of blue and gray."
2. Residence for Two Collectors
Wheeler Kearns Architects used steel to construct the shelving, storage, and stairs leading up to the mezzanine loft in the Residence for Two Collectors. The client’s father was a machinist, so the fabrication of these elements lends a personal touch to the project.
Photo: Tom Rossiter
Architect: Wheeler Kearns Architects, Location: Chicago, Illinois
From the architect: "After a lengthy search, a full penthouse floor of a Chicago high-rise was discovered that afforded 11-foot-high ceilings, a double-height space looking south to the city, and 360-degrees views. The site was gutted to a shell condition, awaiting the new interventions. The owners’ brief was ‘a home we love, have pride in, are comfortable in; ability to entertain graciously with simple elegance.’"
Shop the Look
For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library
A celebration of the meaning and comfort printed books bring to our homes and lives, from the curation and design experts at Juniper Books. Explore the significance of the home library, embellished with alluring photography and illustrations, in a keepsake worthy of any bibliophile’s collection. For the Love of Books shares the vision of Juniper Books, a business that embraces the roles that books fulfill in our lives and their staying power. It recounts the history of books and private libraries, and champions the resilience of books in the digital era. Dive into the nuances that define books for reading, books for decoration, and books for inspiration. Instructive chapters provide useful details for creating and curating one’s own home library, whether it be a single shelf or multiple rooms each with their own collection. You will never look at your bookshelves the same way again. For the Love of Books is about storytelling beyond the pages of our favorite books. Our books―the ones we choose to keep―tell the story of who we are. They remind us who we once were and who we aspire to be.
ShopKindle Oasis
The all-new Kindle Oasis features our best ever 7”, 300 ppi Paperwhite display using the latest e-ink technology and a sleek ergonomic design with page turn buttons, perfect for one handed reading. Introducing an adjustable warm light for a richer reading experience in any light. Now you can adjust the shade of the screen from white light to a warm amber with the ability to schedule when the light changes for a personalized reading experience. Kindle Oasis also has an adaptive front light that automatically adjusts the brightness of your screen based on lighting conditions. No more soggy pages with the Kindle Oasis - it's built to withstand getting splashed at the beach or dropped in the bathtub, hot tub, or pool. Kindle Oasis is IPX8 rated to protect against immersion in up to two meters of fresh water for up to 60 minutes. Adjust the text size and boldness and read with Kindle-exclusive fonts for maximum readability. Whispersync lets you seamlessly switch between reading and listening on your Kindle and Kindle app without losing your place (requires Wi-Fi or free cellular connectivity).
ShopWhile the light-filled Chojamaru View Terrace features an unassuming concrete facade, Endo Architect and Associates carefully designed each unit of the project to have spacious interiors. The delicate staircases are sturdy but unobtrusive.
Photo: Hiroshi Ueda
Architect: Endo Architect and Associates, Location: Tokyo, Japan
From the architect: "This residential complex consists of five properties, and each unit is carefully designed to have a spacious floor plan. To realize four-story housing in a low-rise residential zone, the first floor is set 1.4 meters below the ground level and the plenum space is designed as little as 400 millimeters in height. Along with the reinforced concrete party walls, the common space’s core section is planned with reinforced concrete to strengthen the seismic elements."
4. Winchester Residence
RobitailleCurtis renovated the entry hall, dining room, and kitchen of the Winchester Residence. Thankfully, they kept the sweeping wooden Victorian staircase intact.
Photo: Adrien Williams
Architect: RobitailleCurtis, Location: Westmount, Canada
From the architect: "The client for this project was raised in this 1890s brick Victorian. When the client's mother passed away, she and her family decided to move back in, and they engaged RobitailleCurtis to assist them in modernizing the kitchen. We were careful to respect the historic detailing of the home while improving visual connections and circulation between adjacent spaces on the ground floor. A larger, more functional, modern eat-in kitchen resulted as well."
5. The Courtyard House
As the name suggests, the Courtyard House by Atelier SUN is built around a central courtyard. Light wood stairs sprawl out from the center to access all floor levels. The skylight here provides a feeling of airiness and a connection to the outdoors.
Photo by Andrew Sun
Architect: Atelier SUN, Location: Toronto, Canada
"A double-height interior courtyard is at the center of the house, with a series of landscapes and bamboo to integrate outdoor nature with indoor dwelling. Rooms are stacked and arranged around the central courtyard, creating a vertical village-like spatial relationship while providing a certain degree of privacy. Stairs are located adjacent to the courtyard, providing access to all floor levels. Family members can communicate across the courtyard and maintain visibility of each other. The design successfully provides a cozy and peaceful place by creating an interior courtyard as an in-between space that blurs the boundary of outside and in."
Related Reading:
35 Swoon-Worthy Staircases That Are a Step Above the Rest
10 Smart and Surprising Under-Stair Design Solutions
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