Top 5 Homes of the Week With Stunning Black, White, and Gray Facades

Though it's usually thought that bright colors make the boldest statement, these homes prove that black, white, and gray tones can be just as successful at turning heads—particularly on a home's facade.
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Take a look at our favorite homes of the week that boast modern exteriors that are simple yet striking. If you could choose any color to paint your home's facade, what would it be? Black, white, gray—or would you stick to a wood stain or go wild with another color? Let us know in the comments!

Featured homes were submitted by members of the Dwell community through our new feature, Add a Home. Add your home to Dwell.com/homes today.

1. Y House

Architect, Interior Designer, and Landscape Designer: Anonym Studio

Location: Nonthaburi, Thailand

From the architect: "Designed by Anonym Studio, this house is composed of four bedrooms, two sitting rooms, and one studio. The architects, Phongphat Ueasangkhomset and Panduangjai Roojnawate, used limits of the Y-shaped land plot to form small courtyards and gardens to achieve a micro-ecology of the house, connecting living spaces together. They also employed a formal difference, while the articulation of the architectural skin and mass creates visual sequences that reflect the owners’ memory and long-established relationship with the neighborhood. While one walks through the spaces, one can perceive different fragments of the urban context through the various layers of building skin."

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2. Living Levels

Architect: Oza/Sabbeth Architecture 

Location: Sagaponack, New York

"This 4,500-square-foot house was designed and built for a family of four. It is situated at the intersection of two large farm fields and a small naturally occurring basin in Sagaponack, New York. The farms result in large watersheds. Coupled with the basin, the site becomes quite topographically challenging. For us, this complex topography opened up the possibility for a house with multiple levels. These various levels are composed of an agglomeration of simple shed-like forms placed within this undulating landscape. A stair weaves through these forms, tying them together experientially from within, while allowing them to be separated from without."

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3. The ToDD Residence

Architect and Interior Designer: SkB Architects; Builder: Dyna Contracting 

Location: Seattle, Washington

From the architect: "This residence for a couple with a growing family was born out of the need to get the most possible living area out of very limited space and budget. Comprised of two distinct masses, the structure is visualized as an urban farmhouse—with additive forms over time with a modern extension of a more traditional structure. The interior living space is open at the more public ground floor, and more compact and efficient at the upper floor. The living area is further expanded by a pair of exterior terraces, each having their own unique sense of privacy while engaging the neighborhood."

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4. Black House 

Architect: Oza/Sabbeth Architecture 

Location: Wainscott, New York

From the architect: "This project was an adaptive reuse of a quintessentially ‘humble’ ranch home dating back from the post-war era. What it lacks in ‘architectural significance’ is made up by its location. It benefits by an advantageous location on the site that would have been lost, had we decided to demolish and rebuild. Our clients came to us with a desire to retain its small scale. This was in sharp contrast to the neighborhood’s growing extravagance. In choosing to carefully expand and add, we created a private courtyard, an indoor/outdoor dining space, and an art studio. All these spaces are simultaneously linked and hemmed in by a glazed vestibule that also serves as the entrance." 

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5. The Cliff House

Architect: MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited 

Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

From Linda Anderson: "The Cliff House was built on the coast of Nova Scotia. From the outside, it [doesn't reveal much]. The granite landforms are placed together with cedar cladding. The house is positioned near the gray sea and the muted sky gives it a unique look. The design of the house does not feature any form or ornament—it is a simple cube that has a viewing deck. This modern house is right at home, when considering it was built in an austere area. The house resides on the ocean side, and one-half of the property is placed over a precipitous drop-off."


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Paige Alexus
Paige Alexus is a content producer and blogger at Dwell who loves the ocean, vintage textiles, and midcentury design.

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