Renovations

Bukken is a minimal home located in Fukuyama, Japan, designed by Huukei-Design. The two-story wooden structure consists of a windowless facade facing the street, along with an entrance toward the rear of the building. Natural lighting is obtained through interior courtyards that also maintain the privacy of the residents. Bamboo fencing is placed toward the rear of the building to further increase privacy.

The couple’s white Bulthaup kitchen is set within a double-height volume hung with Tom Dixon Beat lights, arranged in a custom configuration by interior designer Maria Rosa Di Ioia. Overhead, Cubit shelving artfully displays books and objects, accessible by a glass-walled footbridge added during the renovation.

Jordan removed built-in shelving behind the stone fireplace and installed a Cor-Ten steel panel in its place. Vitra manufactures the Jean Prouvé–designed Standard dining table and side chairs.

The Citrons inherited the Modernica sofa, chaise, and table from the previous owners. They added a Jasper Morrison cork stools, all by Vitra. The cedar interior walls were inspired by the exterior cladding and are finished in orange oil beeswax by Howard.

He added floor-to-ceiling windows by Andersen, which allow low winter sunlight to warm the interior in colder months.

In the upper-level bathroom, tiles painstakingly fired by DeSimio cover the walls and ceiling.

The home’s interior design, featured in Vogue and widely celebrated, was an unusual foray into residential surrealism by Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret.

In the master bedroom, a small, cramped closet was replaced with a wardrobe that is partially obscured by a slatted wooden screen that was built by Metalworks & Design Studio of Seattle. "The idea was you see through it, so in a sense it doesn't feel like a small space," Smith says.

"The most challenging part of the design was fusing the old part of the house with the new addition," says principal architect Alex Terry. The character and architectural integrity of the single-level 1950s ranch house was thoughtfully reconsidered during the addition and remodel. The home’s front porch, typical of the period, was refreshed with Ipe decking and railing.

The second-floor office is housed inside a rounded rectangle of concrete that the architect inserted on top of the old farmhouse.

Though the home is expansive, the team made certain to waste as little space as possible. Clever moments of storage, like this sliding shoe closet, abound.

The entrance level’s master bedroom has engineered oak floors and a full wall of built-in closets.