building houses

The top of the staircase is three feet wide, to accommodate the built-in shelving, and becomes wider towards the base, to four feet, making the storage underneath very useful for bigger and boxier items.

Solk thickened the fireplace wall to two feet deep, and packed in storage capabilities around the newly refinished fireplace, which now has large-scale porcelain tile surrounding it.

The basement-level family room connects with a guest bedroom that features a painting by Marleigh Culver.

The kitchen features custom-lacquered cabinets with white oak handles and, in lieu of upper cabinets, a wall niche to display dishes.

Studio Shed offers to ship their prefabs as DIY projects, where the buyer receives the units as a kits of parts that they can assemble themselves using the provided instructions and specialized tools.

Owned by the same family for almost 60 years, the Hamilton House, designed by postwar architect Kazuo Umemoto, was virtually unchanged when Simon Cremniter bought it in 2018. A switchback driveway, mature trees, and abundant plantings create privacy.

Overhangs and one-foot-thick insulation keep the interiors naturally cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The addition was designed with overhangs—and foot-thick insulation—to keep the interiors naturally cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The clients loved the sound of rainwater splashing onto the rock outcropping and didn't want to lose it, so the design team rigged up a spout that deposits water at the right place to accentuate the sounds the clients love. They then had the idea to collect and recycle the water back on the roof so that the tonal experience can be enjoyed in the dry summers as well.

The entire design team worked with the clients and their children to populate the green roof with mosses and grasses harvested from nearby, which they planted with groupings of sedums and other native plants.

On an eight-foot-wide site in London, architect Luke Tozer cleverly squeezed in a four-story home equipped with rain-water-harvesting and geothermal systems.

Karen White, David MacNaughtan, and their sons, Griffin and Finlay, hang out on the front deck, which lines up next to the neighbors' porch.

The first floor is a continuous public space featuring a dining area, kitchen, and living room.

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.

“Before, the house turned its back on the landscape,” said Parish. “This renovation and addition really animates the garden.” Sliding glass doors match those of the living room beyond the deck, and both can be completely open to the yard.

Interior walls were repainted and flooring was repaired, but the master bathroom received the most attention in the existing house. The renovation included marble mosaic floor tiles, fixtures by Blu Bathworks, and Silestone countertops.

"The owner wanted the front door to match the same yellow of Caterpillar, the heavy machinery company,

The double-height opening connecting the main living areas also peeks at the "think tank