The 20 Most-Liked Homes on Our Instagram in 2023
From a DIY’d tiny home in New Zealand to a towering concrete cabin in Mexico, these eye-catching designs from around the world garnered the most "double-taps" from our Instagram followers in 2023. Take a look through the year’s most popular posts to get a sense of which design trends might stick around in the months to come.
Hosono House by Ryan Leidner Architecture
Architect Ryan Leidner reimagined this 2,500-square-foot home in San Francisco.
Suzanne’s bridge and book clubs meet around the dining table in the cottage instead of in the larger house, whose open layout makes such gatherings problematic. "There was no place where I could seal us off," Suzanne says. "So now I use the cottage for game playing, and we can enjoy ourselves and know that we’re not inconveniencing Brooks."
After staying in a tree house listed on Airbnb, Remo Kommnick and Emi Moore wanted their own getaway in the woods. "It was amazing being up in the trees,
Audi’s orchid collection is displayed on custom Siosi shelving with an integrated ladder.
This 1,200-square-foot cabin was designed as a forest retreat for a family of writers and producers.
Tucked away on a wooded property in Greenwich, Connecticut, the cantileverd writer’s retreat holds over 1,700 poetry volumes.
Saltviga House is a weekend home located on a rocky, seafront plot in coastal Norway.
The home is clad in corrugated iron coated with Zincalume. "We chose the cladding so we could curve the metal sheets and create barrel vaulted roofs," says architect William Samuels. "The finish gives a natural reflection to the surface of the house, picking up on the colors of the surrounding bush and the changing daylight."
Josh and Natalie Pritchard’s residence in the woods of New Gloucester, Maine, consists of two parallel gable structures connected by a breezeway. The taller building is the home, and the shorter is a two-car garage with an in-law apartment. The Pritchard children call the wetlands behind the house "fairy land."
When renovating this 1960s beach in Pajaro Dunes, California, Fuse Architects preserved its original pyramid-like roofline.
Adding storage under the new stair maximizes the kitchen's footprint. Hemlock wood on the stair was stained to complement the casework. The faucet is from Brizo and the green backsplash tile is Heath.
This adjustable cabin can be opened up to the elements or closed off when the weather is being uncooperative.
The renovation preserved the original facade of the 1914 Craftmsen-style home, while opening up the interior and employing numerous resilient, health-conscious design techniques.
The workshop interiors emphasize function, with polished concrete slab floors and 35-foot-high ceilings to accommodate large projects and gatherings. The disco ball, set to spin via a smartphone app, can be lowered with an industrial winch and is visible from the overhead studio suite through a peek-a-boo window.
Ludwig Godefroy designed this refuge in Marquesa, Mexico, to feel like both a protect shelter without losing the romance of a secluded cabin.
"They are quite cute and very wild," Leah says of her three kids. The hot tub and surrounding deck were the starting points for the exterior remodel, with the transformed outdoor space incorporating numerous areas for the children to play and explore.
Matière Première Architecture emphasized an ecological approach in renovating this formerly neglected A-frame cabin.
Designed by Michael Kendrick Architects, the 503-square-foot prefab cabin hovers above the forest floor to reduce its impact on the nationally protected woodland.
The slim, steel staircase is designed to allow maximum light and sight-lines.
The owners toured this home, which surrounds a mature tipu tipu tree, while visiting relatives for the day. The brick is original to the 1947 construction.
When a Cornwall couple began thinking about where they might want to retire, they settled on Coverack, a picturesque village on the wild Lizard Peninsula, the most southwestern point of the British mainland. They bought a dilapidated 1960s house and, with the help of architecture and interiors practice Linea Studio, reinvented it as a weekend retreat where they could eventually live out their days.
"The client wanted to create a bolthole that avoided Cornish seaside cliches and maximized the views," reveals architectural designer Kathryn Tyler, founder of Linea Studio.
In Hanna Bui’s Sausalito houseboat, designed by architect Craig Steely, sea creatures seen through an enormous back window animate bay views.
Walls of plank siding dry out easily if they get damp, and different levels of bleached oak floors demarcate living areas and a sunken kitchen. Red Line Roset Togo sofas are paired with a suspended bamboo seat.
Designer Nick Lane and builder Aaron Shields devised this 128-square-foot, transportable dwelling using local hardwoods, volcanic bluestone, steel, and glass.
In addition to salvaged ironbark floors and a double-height ceiling, the living area features custom furniture with integrated storage and a cast-iron fireplace.
Derive Architecture and Design created this hardwood- and copper-clad getaway that respects its forested site on the remote Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea.
To guide the careful placement of each new structure, surveyors mapped the site’s significant vegetation, including the Kentia palms, which are endemic to Lord Howe Island.
Though this 190-square-foot hideaway is a solo retreat, the act of creating it proved to be uniting, not isolating, for Rico Castillero and Duane Reed.
"Certain people don’t feel comfortable camping alone. But in a space like this, it feels much safer, and having the amenities—a hot shower, a wood stove, the ability to do some simple cooking—is just perfect," says Castillero.
Ren von Hasseln studied architecture before founding Ren Ceramics, and she drew from both experiences as she transformed her midcentury ranch house in Ojai, California. Ren led the renovation of the property and crafted ceramic details found throughout the interior.
Ren preserved the original footprint and massing of the 1956 ranch house while completely reenvisioning its circulation. She gutted the crowded interiors and inserted a new steel structure to create high ceilings and an open plan. The oil painting over the living room sofa is Labyrinth Garden, by Darby Milbrath.
Architectural designer Sarah Reilly of Studio Rozu drew inspiration from Charlotte Perriand’s 1934 beach house to make her surf shack dreams come true.
A huge Moroccan rug sourced from a dealer on Etsy anchors the living area. The Afra & Tobias Scarpa Soriana lounge chairs for Cassina were designed in 1969, but fully embody 1970s style. The Donald Judd Single Daybed 32 fits a twin mattress.
Melissa and Jacob Brillhart constructed the home’s frame in their Miami backyard, before disassembling it and shipping it to the island of Eleuthera.
The vintage chairs are by Hans Wegner, while the table, cabinets, and the rest of the furnishings in the home were designed and built by Doug.
Nestled in the woods two hours east of Minneapolis, Off-Grid Inn, Unit 2, one of a pair of rental cabins designed by Danny Lindstrom and built with his friend and business partner, Duff Davidson, combines simplicity with unexpected, offbeat elements like a neon-yellow handrail, an oversize stairway, and changeable lighting.
Inspired by a mix of influences, including Stanley Kubrick films, James Turrell light installations, and Marfa, Texas, the pair believe in applying a unique vision to each of their works. "I don’t want to create a product that gets mass-produced," says Lindstrom. "I want to keep responding appropriately to whatever landscape we’re building in.
Adam and Karyn Bechtel tasked architect Emily Jagoda with renovating the 1960 home they share with their two daughters in the hills of Woodside, California. A curvilinear, built-in sofa with integrated storage sits below a lofted art studio and angular clerestory windows that frame views of the surrounding trees.
Jagoda installed two Velux skylights in the kitchen and one apiece in the kids’ bathroom and the parents’. "Ideally, every room in the house has enough natural light that you don’t have to turn on the lights during the day," says the architect. The frost bathroom tile is from Heath Ceramics, while the faucet is from Vola.
Glass sliders running the length of the interior can close off the living space, or retract for a wide-open connection to the dining area, patio, and pool.
"Zarzales is a vacation home located in Valle de Bravo, whose architecture, simple and pure, gives the prominence it deserves tothe surrounding nature," says the firm.
The 1886 home retains its modest character from the street, but the renovation at the back tells an entirely new story.
"The massing of the residence pushes in and out, shifting in response to site conditions at each level of the uniquely situated through-lot, resulting in a continuous flow that both extends to and draws in the immediate environment," notes the firm.
Shin Shin Architecture brought playful porosity and a fresh ADU to this 1923 single-family home.
The sunroom in the ADU has a clear polycarbonate ceiling, built-in shelving, and cabinetry that conceals a washer and dryer.
Greg Ledesma and Paula Ayala display their passion for all things midcentury with their online shop, and through their restored Southern California home.
Built in 1964, the home is one of 80 developed by Eichler and designed by Jones & Emmons for Orange’s Fairhills neighborhood. Like most Eichlers, it features a fairly closed facade with windows that are either clerestory or clouded glass.
This 1969 summer house needed a gut remodel—so Carisa Salerno and Aaron Levin rebuilt it piece by piece: "In the end, we feel like we built a sculpture, not a house."
New cherry paneling and flooring throughout complement the original Douglas fir exposed beams.
Curved ceilings create a cozy feel, but wall-height windows throughout the L-shaped plan keep the home connected to its courtyard.
"This is a house that connects two gardens in a surrounding environment and three gardens inside the interior," says the firm.
In designing this 193-square-foot boathouse for a young couple wanting to relax at water’s edge, architect Espen Handegård stuck with a gable roof, but opted for a windowless design.
To bring in light, he used vertical acrylic panels interspersed with heart pine boards that are angled at 45 degrees toward the water.
"One visit over the winter, and we drove up to find four feet of snow covering the driveway and stairs down to the cabin," interior designer Amy Pigliacampo says. "There was no way to even park the truck!" The most expensive part of the renovation was updating the roof and siding, at a total cost of $56,953.
The living room sofa is from Article, and the coffee table is from Burke Decor. The rug is vintage, and the couple found the fur chair at Urban Outfitters. It cost $10,228 to fully furnish the cabin.
As if the views over Lake Porovesi in central Finland weren’t inspiration enough, this shingle-clad workspace is a world unto itself, providing its filmmaker owner with a "private place for appreciating cinema," says architect Teemu Pirinen of Helsinki firm Pirenen Salo Oy.
Beyond its gable form, the hut rejects conventions of Nordic architecture, instead drawing influence from "imaginary universes of adventure movies from the ’80s," says Pirinen, who pursued baroque and mystical themes to achieve a departure from reality.
After noticing a void in the market, Australian entrepreneur Oscar Martin partnered with architect Peter Stutchbury to start Dimensions X, a company that will soon offer environmentally friendly prefab homes that can be ordered online.
The 613-square-foot prototype, called OM-1, is built predominantly of cross-laminated timber.
Wanting to be near his wife and young child but still have a space to work outside their home, architect Tim Vander Hoek designed and built Light Ribbon Studio, a 60-square-foot shed with a wraparound acrylic clerestory.
The mix of plywood helped save on costs, adds visual interest to the space, and serves as an example for Tim’s clients.
The Most-Liked Homes on Our Instagram in 2021
An 11-Year Renovation Helps a Couple Grow Simpatico With the Original Homeowner’s Quirky Vision
In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.
Perched below the Griffith Observatory and overlooking Hollywood is a lush lot crowned with four towering olive trees—and a 1965 home designed by modernist architect Craig Ellwood. When a young couple purchased the home in 2018, it needed substantial work. For a historic restoration, they called on Woods + Dangaran, a local firm fluent in modernist history. The team completed a meticulous restoration of the home while keeping original components like the linear shape, open plan, and expansive windows. One of the most striking features is the original koi pond (an element deemed so essential that its preservation was a condition of escrow) that is now crossed by a bridge that leads to a new lap pool, which is perhaps the biggest intervention on the property.
Casa Mague by Mauricio Ceballos X Architects draws inspiration from the Aztec heritage of Malinalco, Mexico. "Piramide de Malinalco, one of only three carved pyramids in the world, is part of the town’s daily life," explains Mauricio Ceballos Pressler, the firm’s director and founder. "The inhabitants feel proud of their Aztec roots." To honor them—and in direct reference to the nearby pyramid—an exterior living area adjacent to the pool features a curved and stepped wood wall. To more broadly echo a Mesoamerican worldview, Pressler designed each room of the 2,906-square-foot home to feel as if it’s woven into the landscape. "Trees have ritual meaning," he explains. "The roots symbolize the connection to the underworld, the trunks symbolize the earthly human life, and the branches symbolize the connection with the Gods."
Though parties might be on hold for a bit longer, this midcentury-style, brick-and-glass house in Austin, Texas, stands ready to entertain. Its owners, Sherry and Anthony, credit their architect and close friend, Eric Hughes of Houston firm HR Design Dept, for accommodating their penchant for Southern hospitality. For example, visitors can come right into the kitchen—the formal entrance off the front walkway gets much less use than the door from the carport—and be promptly handed a drink across the generous island. "There’s an overarching communal flow to the home and the way in which entertaining spaces work together, and then there are these separate, choreographed moments within that," says Hughes.
When the kids are outgrowing bunk beds in what used to be the nursery, it’s time for an update. That was the case for Catherine and VW Fowlkes, the couple behind D.C.-based Fowlkes Studio, whose compact 1930s home wasn’t quite cutting it anymore. With minimal growing pains—the duo originally bought the home because of its potential to be expanded—the Fowlkes Studio team completed a 1,720-square-foot, three-story addition at the rear that now provides plenty of breathing room for the whole family. Catherine admits that the home was always "stylistically bland," but that it had a sweetness that carries through today in its expanded form. "I think the renovation has retained that quality, from before to after," she says.
Sometimes all it takes is a little luck. For a young married couple, it came in the form of this rare find: a 19th-century, three-story, single-family home in the heart of Paris. The house was a charmer with good bones, but was in need of some serious care. In a vibrant retrofit by architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier that includes structural reinforcements, the reimagined design is set off with a new floor plan. The lower level now serves as a space for the couple’s children, with the public areas—including an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen—on the floor above. Upstairs, the attic has been transformed into a large primary bedroom with a green-and-white bathroom suite. The living room (pictured above) showcases the firm’s bespoke carpentry work with a beautiful, mossy-green built-in bookcase that frames a new fireplace, and a staircase surrounded by arched doorways that hold hidden storage. "We created visual breakthroughs in order to connect the different spaces," says Gerlier. "The rounded arches are there to help magnify these moments."
Sited on a remote, forested plot in the mountains of Palmichal de Acosta, Costa Rica, this stone-and-concrete home was designed with spiritual transcendence in mind—along with off-grid sustainability. When architect María de la Paz Alice, founder of Mazpazz Arquitectura, first saw the plot, she was skeptical due to its inaccessibility. Luckily for the client—a film producer and ocean conservationist who dreamed of a place where she could disconnect—the architect was game to take on the project. Casa Salvaje, or Wild House, is an entirely autonomous and self-sustaining home that uses geometric openings to frame its tranquil surroundings. Teaming up with interior designer Ileana Guerrero—who worked with local artisans to craft custom furnishings for the living spaces—and landscape designer Jorge Salgado, the project is a breathtaking example of architecture that connects to the earth. The home’s entrance, which the architect refers to as "the vortex," takes the form of a concrete cube with two prominent circular openings. Crystals encrusted in the floor capture and reflect the light that passes through the overhead oculus from the sun and moon.
A dusty-pink facade is only a hint of what’s inside this 18th-century structure in southern Portugal. For Sérgio Antunes, cofounder of Lisbon firm Aurora Arquitectos, the charming exterior and its rich pigment provided a fascinating starting point for the renovation of the Rose Building, a single-family residence that his firm turned into five glowing apartments in collaboration with Lisbon architecture studio FURO. Throughout are huge swaths of color with unique touches: For example, painted on the ceiling of the central stair is a moody mural of a woman in the style of a fresco, and in one of the unit’s bathrooms, more ceiling artwork depicts a mermaid emerging from a swirl of waves. Elsewhere, arched windows, sloped ceilings, ornate moldings, and wooden doors elegantly play off Portuguese marble and patterned ceramic tiles. With the go-ahead from the city, the architects were also able to construct a modern addition at the rear—The Mustard Building—that pairs natural wood partitions with the subdued tones of creamy terrazzo.
Visitors to these slender, stacked rental cabins are granted unrivaled access to the Chilean coastline. To create such a remarkable experience, however, Santiago firm Croxatto & Opazo Arquitectos had to overcome a set of challenging constraints: a limited budget, steep slopes, and blustery coastal winds. "It was an interesting exercise in how to propose good architecture with scarcity," says cofounder Felipe Croxatto. In the end, the constraints might be to thank for the incredible results. The pair of guest cabins feature interiors in light-colored pine treated with natural oil finishes. Each has an open-plan living/dining/cooking space on the ground floor, with a lofted sleeping space above. Floor-to-ceiling windows, large glazed doors, and north-facing terraces connect the pair to the spectacular site. All construction for the cabins—including utility and road access—was completed on-site in eight months.
Five years ago, when a father and son set out on an evening canoe ride on Wood Lake in Northern Wisconsin, they paddled by a site for sale that sparked an idea. What if they built a vacation rental along the tree-lined river to allow others to experience the landscape? After nearly two years of surveying the county property map, the McPheeters found the perfect place to break ground for the first of a series of rental properties across a 140-acre plot of rural land, now known as Nordlys Lodging Co. As fans of Pacific Northwest architecture, the family dreamed of nestling microstructures within the landscape, but they worried about the aesthetic’s ability to withstand harsh winters. Fortunately, they found architect David Wagner, a Washington native and principal of Sala Architects, who was "able to adapt the aesthetic to our much more demanding climate," says Jeff McPheeters. Now complete, the Metal Lark Tower is a two-story, 820-square-foot cabin on a sloping hillside, resting against a dividing line of trees. "It’s interesting to experience the ‘aha’ moment of walking in and having it all open up the meadow and the lake," says the architect. "There is a certain poetry of that particular spot."
Honorable Mention:
One Man’s Tiny Home Acts as a Prototype in a Village for Those Who Lacked Housing
After 30 years without a house, Jesse Brown found home in a community outside East Austin. The Community First! Village is a 51-acre development of micro-homes and RVs that offers affordable, permanent shelter to individuals who have lacked housing for extended periods. Before moving in, Jesse lived in a tent behind a sign shop. In 2015, the owner showed Jesse a brochure for the village, but he "wasn’t ready to move yet," says Jesse. After his camp was raided by police in 2018, Jesse toured the village with the shop owner and became a resident three months later. Last year, Jesse applied to take on a leadership role as one of the project’s Seed Neighbors, which involves welcoming new residents and giving feedback for the plan’s second phase that will add 310 new homes to the village—including this modest blue pitched-roof cabin specifically made for Jesse. Austin-based firm Jobe Corral Architects worked directly with Jesse on the design. "We do a lot of residential work," says cofounder Camille Jobe. "We always think about what parts of the house tell the story about who is living in it." At the entrance, an orange door leads into the living space, where a reclining chair is positioned so Jesse can look through the screened porch and interact with his neighbors—something he insisted on when developing the brief with the architects. "All of my life, I’ve never been part of things," Jesse says. "Here, I’m part of a community. If something happens to me, I know that somebody’s going to care."
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