Built-Ins

Berg was pleased when his team could draw more attention to the original spiral staircase, which he describes as fabulous. “And I don’t say that often about a spiral staircase,” he says.

Drew and Dina got the open kitchen they wanted. The shelves are exposed to display ceramics they make at the studio on the property.

Formerly one room, the studio was split in two—a multipurpose room underneath a primary bedroom.

The second-level terrace was designed to take advantage of Austin’s southeast to northeast prevailing winds.

The fireplace was redesigned as a piece of sculpture, in order to be more inviting to sit around. It's accompanied by an Onn Pendant by a-emotional light at the ceiling, and a custom wall-mounted shelving unit designed by O-N Architecture, built by Felix Chmiel, and coated in pigments by Linolie & Pigment.

Inside the waffle front door, a common feature of Deck Houses, are an Artek Tea Trolley 900 by Alvar Aalto with a ceramic vase by Femme Sole and Home Union.

The stovetop burners are from PITT.

“Sometimes you go with emotions rather than logic,” says Woodhull founder Caleb Johnson. “I just wanted to renovate the little Pizza Hut look-alike my son told me looked like a blowfish.”

The insides of the carcass are as beautiful as the exposed faces. “You can’t capture a piece of solid wood in a frame or it will expand, contract, and crack, so we re-assembled our leftover walnut strips to infill the framework,” Stuart says.

“I like the darkness of walnut. Other woods tend to yellow if you don’t stain it, while walnut stays true to itself,” Caleb says. The white glass tile backsplash melds with the wall.

Stuart crafted the banquette base using ambrosia maple that he had been saving for a worthy project.

The home’s modest size meant Caleb did not have to worry too much about material and labor costs. For example, all the interior walls are done in plaster, which is three-to-four times more expensive than drywall in Maine.

Sheila and Steve looked into selling their home, but financially it made more sense (at the time) to renovate instead.

In the living space, instead of one large expanse of glass, which would have been expensive, Solk used multiple smaller windows from Marvin. To open up the living room, Solk removed a fireplace, which caused drafts and also leaked. “Other families may think that’s bonkers, but it worked for us,” Erika says. “We'll take the floor space over the fireplace.”

In a Cape Town suburb known for its views of Table Mountain, architect Liani Douglas transformed a rundown, 80-year-old cottage into a house for her friend, Derek White, that embodies their shared design sensibilities. In the leafy neighborhood, the house announces itself with a pair of arched doorways at the front gate and the entry.

The salon faces the street and enjoys many period-specific details, including a decorative plaster ceiling medallion fabricated by Decorator's Supply Chicago, built-in bookshelves, and a stone mantel. The loveseat is a vintage Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Cassina.