Favs

Perched quietly on the dunes of New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, Hut on Sleds serves as a small, sustainable beach retreat for a family of five.

The two-story addition as seen from the back. A green roof provides extra gardening space for the family, who loves to be connected to their neighborhood.

When artist Birgitta Burling and her husband Staffan decided to build a house on the idyllic Swedish island of Gotland, they set their ambitions high. "The brief was to make a house that can do several things…to create a house with very little boundaries and infinite possibilities," says French architecture and landscape firm Collectif Encore.

Austin-based architecture firm Thoughtbarn set out to renovate an H-shaped residence in a wooded, hilly neighborhood known for its midcentury, ranch-style homes, but quickly discovered that the home’s slab was structurally failing and would need to be replaced. This replacement ultimately led to the construction of a new home based on the footprint of the original—but with a small addition to the south. The exterior is clad in board-and-batten siding, while the front porch is covered with stained pine. Both materials have a vertical emphasis, which speaks to the heritage oak trees on the .75-acre property.

A screened porch is designed to immerse occupants in the natural setting. The leather chaises are by Mario Bellini and date from the 1970s.

The home is located far from the road on the northwest corner of the property and oriented toward views of the water.

The Hive was completed in May 2015 for a total construction cost of $160,000.

The double-height living space is anchored by a wood-burning stove by Lopi in the corner. The large east-facing window on the far wall floods the room with magical morning light. All the windows and doors are by Quantum.

What Carstensen saved on labor costs he was able to put into furnishings. The interior of the screened-in porch is outfitted with a mix of furnishings, both vintage and new. He purchased the vintage Malm fireplace in Los Angeles on a work trip and had it shipped to Portland. The rug, shelf unit, and loveseat are all from the locally-based Schoolhouse Electric, as are the ceiling lights: Factory Light No. 7 in Green.

Considered the largest of Frank Lloyd Wright’s experimental textile-block houses in Los Angeles, the Ennis House comprises over 27,000 concrete blocks stacked atop a concrete platform.

“We wanted to ‘cap’ the dwelling with a generous, almost sweeping canopy that would keep the majority of the high sun exposure areas in shade. We also played with the roof volume to break free from the constraints of a typical ‘box modern’ home,” says Pande.

Cabin Nordmarka, 2006.

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls on both sides of the main living room allow sweeping views straight through the house.

The constraints informed the building design, and were embraced—for example, the cladding that was milled at the end was only enough to partially clad the studio.