Home RENO

A collection of Miss Petra chairs from Myyour are next to the pool; all lighting for the house is by Skip Yeknik.

In Palm Springs, Sander Architects created an energy-efficient hybrid prefab home that’s designed to stay naturally cool in the desert heat, which often climbs to triple digits in the summer.

Cubicco’s prefab houses, like the Cabana Beach model, are built with laminated veneer lumber, an engineered material that uses up to 90 percent of a tree—compared to typical wood timbers that use only 60 to 70 percent. Modules can be disassembled if the owners relocate.

Florida couple John Pirman and Steve Tetreault built a new house inspired by the Sarasota School. Today’s FEMA codes required a plinth to lift the house five-and-a-half feet above grade and a roof that can withstand hurricane wind loads, making it a challenge to re-create the lightness of midcentury design, Pirman says.

Raise the Roof Using a commercial roof in a residential project was a first for architect Michael Epstein. While similar systems are often covered, Epstein chose this long-span roof deck from Epic Metals for its beam-like interior face, which hides fastenings in its deep grooves, creating a flat-panel appearance.

The bath’s Kohler Purist fixtures and Frederick Weinberg animal figures sit on a Corian countertop

Typography guru Erik Spiekermann and his wife, designer Susanna Dulkinys, hate clutter. That’s why they love the super-sleek Berlin domicile they constructed to have just the right lines—and a host of energy-saving features behind the scenes. The stainless-steel Bulthaup kitchen "cost as much as a small house," said Spiekermann, though he did get a discount: Bulthaup is one of his clients.

Ikea cabinets were combined with durable work surfaces and personal touches like a chalkboard wall. Decopour flooring, a cement topping similar to terrazzo, is a very durable, family friendly surface. Kitchen, dining and outdoor space flow around a 12-foot long island—nicknamed "the mother of all islands" by the residents.

The Bulthaup b2 brings the woodshop into the kitchen with utilitarian workspaces and pristine, orderly wooden cabinet systems.

The cooktop and oven are Miele, the counter-top is Caesarstone, and the refrigerator is Liebherr.

Contreras can take his breakfast at a polished marble bar overhung by Tom Dixon pendant lights. A walnut cabinet system reaches from floor to ceiling, dividing the kitchen from the master bedroom.

A dramatic black island is expertly balanced by a wall of white cabinetry and a refrigerator that blends perfectly. The kitchen’s black countertops were cut from Nero Assoluto granite. The sink and faucet are from Quebec-based company Rubi. Appliances are from Wolf.

A single bowl sink is self-explanatory: it consists of a sink that is not divided up into separate areas.

Earthy details meet minimalist angularity in the kitchen. Consentino countertops play to both styles.

Dimster added new, two-story-tall beams to support the weight of the glass box topping the stair. “We were missing a grand outdoor space—that’s where the roof deck comes into play,” Dimster says.

The Andréns’ ingenious use of affordable materials is perhaps best illustrated in their kitchen, where all the cabinets and even the faucet are from IKEA.

The kitchen of this Brooklyn brownstone was updated with a white Carrara backsplash that frames the Bertazzoni range and Dunsmuir cabinetry, providing a white background that makes the Matte-black quartzite kitchen island pop.