Collection by Akanksha Vishwakarma
“Watching the sunrise and moonrise from the living room is gobsmacking,” says James.
“Watching the sunrise and moonrise from the living room is gobsmacking,” says James.
The Plus House—named for the perpendicular trajectories of light and air that pass through on the top and bottom floors—is one in a series of architect-designed homes commissioned by Arkitekthus, a development company founded five years ago with a pledge to improve the quality of prefab architecture. The spruce panels that coat the second-floor exterior will fade in tandem with the zinc-coated steel that rims the glazed windows and doors. "They will go gray like we do," says architect Claesson Koivisto Rune.
The Plus House—named for the perpendicular trajectories of light and air that pass through on the top and bottom floors—is one in a series of architect-designed homes commissioned by Arkitekthus, a development company founded five years ago with a pledge to improve the quality of prefab architecture. The spruce panels that coat the second-floor exterior will fade in tandem with the zinc-coated steel that rims the glazed windows and doors. "They will go gray like we do," says architect Claesson Koivisto Rune.
How a highly productive collaboration among a trio of creative Angelenas—and a good dose of Barragán—turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages.
How a highly productive collaboration among a trio of creative Angelenas—and a good dose of Barragán—turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages.
Lauren and Brittan Ellingson, the owners of Notice Snowboards, a custom snowboard and wakesurf company in Whitefish, Montana, approached Workaday Design and builder Mindful Designs to concoct a new lake home for their family. The brief was, perhaps unsurprisingly, focused on getting the family outdoors as much as possible.
Lauren and Brittan Ellingson, the owners of Notice Snowboards, a custom snowboard and wakesurf company in Whitefish, Montana, approached Workaday Design and builder Mindful Designs to concoct a new lake home for their family. The brief was, perhaps unsurprisingly, focused on getting the family outdoors as much as possible.
The front garden area is terraced with custom Cor-Ten steel retaining walls with an oxidized patina. The plantings are inspired by the couple’s love for Palm Springs.
The front garden area is terraced with custom Cor-Ten steel retaining walls with an oxidized patina. The plantings are inspired by the couple’s love for Palm Springs.
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.
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 concrete wall behind the porch provides a backdrop for the wood stove and privacy from the road.
The concrete wall behind the porch provides a backdrop for the wood stove and privacy from the road.
Top 9 Gardens of 2020: The verdant spaces nominated for the Dwell Design Awards help enliven their biophilic homes.
Top 9 Gardens of 2020: The verdant spaces nominated for the Dwell Design Awards help enliven their biophilic homes.
Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.
Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.
Not everyone has a credibility bookcase. Your kids’ discarded toys and jackets may be strewn on the floor, or your roommate is in the throes of an online boxing class. Perhaps your cat is licking its unmentionables, and it’s not quite the scene you want to set for your one-on-one.

Luckily, Zoom makes it easy to manifest the environment we want if the environment we have isn’t ideal. If you’ve ever wanted to dial in from a Dwell house, now’s your chance.
Not everyone has a credibility bookcase. Your kids’ discarded toys and jackets may be strewn on the floor, or your roommate is in the throes of an online boxing class. Perhaps your cat is licking its unmentionables, and it’s not quite the scene you want to set for your one-on-one. Luckily, Zoom makes it easy to manifest the environment we want if the environment we have isn’t ideal. If you’ve ever wanted to dial in from a Dwell house, now’s your chance.
South: Mark Word Design

Mulch and living ground covers—like Big Blue liriope, marsilea, and Palisades zoysia turf—keep moisture within the soil and lowers the soil’s temperature, protecting the live oak trees’ roots.
South: Mark Word Design Mulch and living ground covers—like Big Blue liriope, marsilea, and Palisades zoysia turf—keep moisture within the soil and lowers the soil’s temperature, protecting the live oak trees’ roots.
South: Mark Word Design

The garden Mark Word Design created for an Austin, Texas, home sited adjacent to a nature reserve puts water conservation first. “It’s about usage levels, but it’s also about the way we treat storm water and runoff, since it all goes back into our supply at the end of the cycle,” designer Sarah Carr says. Word and his team kept the ratio of paved to unpaved surfaces low and chose plants that help reduce erosion, require little irrigation, and allow storm water to percolate.
South: Mark Word Design The garden Mark Word Design created for an Austin, Texas, home sited adjacent to a nature reserve puts water conservation first. “It’s about usage levels, but it’s also about the way we treat storm water and runoff, since it all goes back into our supply at the end of the cycle,” designer Sarah Carr says. Word and his team kept the ratio of paved to unpaved surfaces low and chose plants that help reduce erosion, require little irrigation, and allow storm water to percolate.
Midwest: Hoerr Schaudt

Knitting the designed spaces into the greater wilderness beyond was paramount for the ten-acre landscape Douglas Hoerr devised in northern Michigan. “The idea is once you’re there, you can’t tell what we did,” he says. Instead of building formal gardens right to the property line, Hoerr added a meadow planted with mature trees and indigenous grasses to buffer the yard. Naturalistic plantings ebb and flow around the 110-foot-long saltwater lap pool.
Midwest: Hoerr Schaudt Knitting the designed spaces into the greater wilderness beyond was paramount for the ten-acre landscape Douglas Hoerr devised in northern Michigan. “The idea is once you’re there, you can’t tell what we did,” he says. Instead of building formal gardens right to the property line, Hoerr added a meadow planted with mature trees and indigenous grasses to buffer the yard. Naturalistic plantings ebb and flow around the 110-foot-long saltwater lap pool.
Pacific Northwest: 2.ink Studio

Oregon wood sorrel offers ground cover. “The lushness of our native landscape is really the most captivating aspect of our region,” Beaver says. “Because we get so much rain, that can become an integral dimension of our designs.”
Pacific Northwest: 2.ink Studio Oregon wood sorrel offers ground cover. “The lushness of our native landscape is really the most captivating aspect of our region,” Beaver says. “Because we get so much rain, that can become an integral dimension of our designs.”
The landscaped backyard acts as a second, open-air living space between the home and garage studio. The cladding on the addition is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Iron Mountain, and the deck is stained western red cedar.
The landscaped backyard acts as a second, open-air living space between the home and garage studio. The cladding on the addition is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Iron Mountain, and the deck is stained western red cedar.

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