basement

Designer Monica Berdin—who is married to architect Clinton Cuddington—worked with Aloe Designs to cover two sides of their backyard studio in drought-tolerant flora. A sheltered deck features a custom fire pit and a pair of turquoise Condesa chairs.

The outdoor shower situated off of the master bedroom is enclosed to offer privacy and features a courtyard garden. Michael Arp of Lanoha Nurseries designed the house's landscaping.

To most eyes, Ezequiel Farca’s 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City looked like a teardown. Even the lot itself—shallow and crammed against a steep hillside—wasn’t particularly alluring. But Farca saw through all the restraints to create a spa-like refuge in one of the world’s most energetic cities. "It’s is such a hectic place. You’re bombarded by so much information the moment you step into the streets," says Farca, who first gained prominence as a furniture and interior designer. "So we envisioned this house as a retreat, a kind of a temple." The rooftop courtyard is lined with a verdant mix of indigenous plants, including banana trees, palm trees, lion’s claw, Mexican breadfruit, and native vines. The chaise longues were designed for Farca’s EF Collection.

The backyard features a vertical garden, called the “picking wall” by the designers of Weller Landscapes, for its selection of kitchen herbs. In regards to the courtyard's wood and concrete finishes, the architects explain how “[The] materials all had an honest raw quality about them, allowing them to age gracefully and acquire their own patina over time.”

Fittingly named the Courtyard House, the residence features a large outdoor space tucked underneath the cantilevered upper level, providing a quiet and shaded area for Lalita to enjoy her coffee breaks. Rotated masonry blocks extend from the courtyard wall to create succulent planters.

The home's south façade features breathtaking views over the city of Madrid. To the left lies the bioclimatic patio.

One of the second-level bedrooms looks down to the ground-level courtyard.

The ghost of the removed roof remains visible at the building's rear patio, where the brick remains exposed below the bedrooms above.

patio

“We kept coming to the dog beach and driving past this house until, one day, we decided to take a look.” Cheryl, who works in tech, is perched on a banquette built cleverly into the narrow deck that skirts the home’s new north-facing wing, wide open to the winter sun.

Rather than opting for the schematic, open-plan design of the renovated Queensland worker's cottage, the formalized living, sitting, and dining areas are compartmentalized; each room is dedicated to their function.