ADU

The solution to the problem of the telephone pole was to place the entry at the side. “Putting the home entry on the side allows one to create full rooms at each end of the house without running a hallway through them,” says Wu.

The main volume of the extension is constructed from offset Douglas fir battens painted blue and gray. This reflects the vertical lines and gray color of the ribbed render used in the extension to the side of the house.

The front facade of the townhouse was restored to its original appearance. The new front door has been painted the same color as the walls in the master bedroom and the cabinetry in the kitchen.

The external brick walls are part of the 1990 addition. The upper part had been rendered in acrylic and painted butter yellow. This was removed and the section was re-clad with a charred solid timber shiplap cladding. An enormous double-height window floods the living space with natural light.

Architect Grant Straghan, founder of DeDraft, designed an aluminum extension in London’s Walthamstow area for a librarian and an illustrator who had lived in the old terrace house for several years before they were ready to move forward with an expansion. After learning about the clients’ affinity for green, Straghan selected a pale-toned paint to decorate the exterior in the residents’ favorite color.

DeNiord designed a simple concrete bench with a honed top to run parallel to the randomly sized concrete pads that lead to the covered entry. He planted blueberry bushes behind the bench and a river birch tree behind the boulder. To conjure a wabi-sabi feel outdoors, diNiord poured concrete around a boulder. “It represents the interruption of perfect geometry,” he says.

The original home was converted into a bedroom level, and given a second-story addition and roof deck. The dark exterior color, a charcoal-eggplant hue, lets the landscape colors stand out in contrast. “The existing house roof became the roof deck,” says Rogers. “And then I just shifted over the addition so that it floated over the landscape.”

“We wanted to tackle the dream and challenge of designing our own house and create a space that would get us close to nature,” Alessandro says.

Simon Knight Architects turns a historic building into a contemporary family home by sprucing up its exterior and rejiggering the ground floor.

The 1930s home in London that architect Grant Straghan remodeled for himself and his family is enlivened by blue-green cement tile exterior cladding.

The guesthouse is clad in vertical white vinyl siding. Kelli had decking constructed out of engineered wood and cedar.

The climate in La Mancha is harsh, with very cold winters and very hot summers and a generally dry climate. "Generating comfortable conditions for as much of the year as possible was the real challenge,

When a Los Angeles–based entrepreneur and writer were seeking creative refuge, they didn’t have to travel far for inspiration. The duo simply looked to their backyard to erect a 245-square-foot guesthouse on their hillside property in the Los Feliz neighborhood. Nestled just behind their main residence, the tranquil space, designed by Jerome Byron, serves as a work/play sanctuary for the couple and their two children.

“There’s something about it that feels very contextual to where it is—on a little teeny hill, looking out over the Dry Creek Valley, and there’s nothing else artful around,” says Louis.

Merritt Amanti Palminteri and Rogers Hawley revamped their Monterey bungalow without expanding its footprint.

The overall home is constructed with larch timber, a British wood, and features a central ridge beam that gives it a butterfly-shaped roof. Shou sugi ban was done on the wood to give it a charred finish.

The deck off the kitchen brings the outdoors in and breaks up the home's north and west facades.