Brighten the Corners

Along the home’s facades, deep window openings pop through the silvery, white-cedar cladding in bright bursts. "The punches of color are points of personal expression," says Taylor, cofounder of Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design. "They let the vitality of the residents leak out so passersby can experience the inside from the outside."

More simply stated, it’s the interior design poking through the exterior shell. The blue entranceway conveys the hue of the foyer, the red represents the crimson-colored wall of the living-dining-kitchen area, and the yellow is an echo of the bright entrance into one of the bedrooms.

The painted aluminum is, however, more than just an amuse-bouche of what’s to come inside. The 12- to 24-inch-deep openings also reveal the thickness of the walls, which house hefty insulation and a rain screen to prevent mildew and hint at the home’s sustainable construction. So while at first glance the house may look pop, in truth, the design is a crackable, colorful code.