SubscribeSign In
Collection by Luke Hopping

Ode to the Mighty Box Home

These homes make the case it's hip to be square.

View 5 Photos
While the house overlooks an estuary on its north side, little about the interior is revealed from the street-facing façade.
While the house overlooks an estuary on its north side, little about the interior is revealed from the street-facing façade.
The 3,200-square-foot house evokes Mies van der Rohe's modernist aesthetic, in a stacked, three-dimensional form. Dirk Lohan of Lohan Anderson, the grandson of the iconic architect, designed the house to be a perfect cube.
The 3,200-square-foot house evokes Mies van der Rohe's modernist aesthetic, in a stacked, three-dimensional form. Dirk Lohan of Lohan Anderson, the grandson of the iconic architect, designed the house to be a perfect cube.
A simple black box in many ways, the Ankersvingen Annex succeeds with its simplicity; it adds space without subtracting from the surroundings. “It was a really neat connection between the house and garden, which was totally lacking with the existing architecture,” says architect Thor Olav Solbjør of SAAHA. “We took the stunning views of the fjord as the starting point.”
A simple black box in many ways, the Ankersvingen Annex succeeds with its simplicity; it adds space without subtracting from the surroundings. “It was a really neat connection between the house and garden, which was totally lacking with the existing architecture,” says architect Thor Olav Solbjør of SAAHA. “We took the stunning views of the fjord as the starting point.”
A basic box that’s as tall as it is wide (28 feet) and 16 feet long, this Portland, Oregon house consists of rooms stacked vertically: an unfinished basement on the bottom, a kitchen-living area and a bathroom in the middle, and a bedroom on top, with the stairwell hinged onto the front of the home. The only interior doors are those to the bathroom, basement, and root cellar, leaving the rest of the space open and unfettered. At just 704 square feet, Katherine Bovee and Matt Kirkpatrick's home is a great lesson in making the most out of every inch. Click here to see the interior.
A basic box that’s as tall as it is wide (28 feet) and 16 feet long, this Portland, Oregon house consists of rooms stacked vertically: an unfinished basement on the bottom, a kitchen-living area and a bathroom in the middle, and a bedroom on top, with the stairwell hinged onto the front of the home. The only interior doors are those to the bathroom, basement, and root cellar, leaving the rest of the space open and unfettered. At just 704 square feet, Katherine Bovee and Matt Kirkpatrick's home is a great lesson in making the most out of every inch. Click here to see the interior.