adu

Built-in cabinetry at the entryway ensures a place for everything is baked right into the design from the start. "We try to encourage our clients on all projects to not make the house bigger than it needs to be," says Loader. "Make it the right size, and design a space for everything."

Located in the historic English village of Bentworth, Friends Lab is a contemporary take on the local agricultural typology.

A highlight of the overhaul is the floor-to-ceiling glass on the north side, which includes a five-panel bifold door. The door opens to the couple’s favorite area of the house, the backyard. The deck is shaded by the cantilevered roof, and Ren planted drought-resistant brush amid the existing oak trees.

Under the green roof, the cedar-clad bedroom wing cantilevers 25 feet over the hot tub.

The TV does not dominate the living room space. Instead, it is hidden behind a red glass screen and there is also a pull-down projector screen for family movie nights.

“To have so much nature so close to São Paulo is incredible. The city is only an hour and a half away,” Filipe says.

In the house’s private wing, a built-in desk provides a work space with a view, and sliding doors can divide the sleeping quarters.

The master bedroom, which opens to the rear garden, is outfitted with a pull-out rack and sliding panels that can separate the room into two spaces. The windows are from Dixieline Lumber & Home Centers.

Anchoring a multi-family property in Chula Vista is a 1,200-square-foot garage that Ramiro Losada-Amor of Modern Granny Flat transformed into an ADU for Jorge Cuevas Antillón and Ruben Martínez. The garage door is from Coastal Garage Doors.

Fir plywood from Freres Lumber joins IKEA cabinets. The figure painting is by Dylan Dean.

Built-in storage between the work station and the bed provides a place to store luggage.

Each child has their own sleeping nook in the “Sibling Lair.”

Graham Hill, a sustainability advocate whose TED talks have delved into the benefits of living small, put his own lessons into practice at his 350-square-foot apartment, which he shares with his partner and two dogs. Quick transitions, like drawing the FilzFelt curtain, convert the living space into a bedroom.

The door to Eoghan Mahony’s office is set on a caster and has a hinge that runs the entire ten-foot height.

The loft floors are made of white pine recycled from a tree on the property. Todd and Maria designed and fabricated the sitting room’s daybed as well as the table that swings out from the CabParts prefab Catskills Watershed House cabinetry; the stools are from IKEA.

“Other than the wood ceiling and built in for the bed, the finishings and lighting fixtures were more important to me to invest in as that is what would define the elegance and beauty of the space,” says Kille.

The couple fell in love with a space-saving queen-size Murphy bed that Minarc sourced for them. Made by the Italian brand Clei, it was purchased for $15K from Resource Furniture in West Hollywood.

The desk folds up and the installation swivels to pull down the bed.