Cabañas

The survey found that outdoor space was the top request in terms of home features. A patio, bar area, pool, and dining space offer numerous opportunties for indoor-outdoor living.

Farther down on the site is a dock whose ramp is lowered by hand via weight-laden pulleys. The residence is accessible by private boat or water taxi only.

A breezy residence south of Sydney is the perfect spot for an older couple to enjoy ocean vistas. Designed by Architecture Saville Isaacs, the Cliff house employs a number of sustainable design practices.

When building such a modest structure in a large landscape, designer and client often had to defend their vision to their collaborators. “We knew this house was going to be for Maggie and she would live there alone,” designer Lauren Moffitt says. “But people are always projecting for future resale. Putting in the smallest size of anything—to any subcontractor, it’s just not reasonable.”

Orpilla pecks, Apolo pedals.

Those hammers and saws built a home for the family’s chickens, watched over by Apolo among outdoor furniture by Richard Schultz.

Menlo Residence Site Plan A Ipe Deck (rear) B Gravel C Concrete Pavers D House E Driveway F Ipe Deck (front) G Ipe Fence and Gate

The client's were motivated by sustainability as well. As the Aixopluc writes, "They'd rather spend money on the climatic qualities of their home than on enriching the big companies that control the energy business" by paying large gas or electric bills. The two firms cite the openness of the Case Study homes as an inspiration for the lower floor; the upper floor draws from Le Corbusier’s 1954-56 béton brut Maison Jaoul.

Light Show: Resolution: 4 pierced a concrete wall edging the exterior stairwell with acrylic cylinders to make a clever lighting installation. The cylinders transmit sunlight during the day, Tanney explains, and at night the installation becomes a “backlit constellation” triggered by motion sensors.

This outdoor fireplace in Austin, Texas is generously sized and created out of board-formed concrete, with a spot directly adjacent for firewood storage and a wood shelf running in front for added storage.

Cox says he and Persin “went on an ipe run” after committing to the material for the deck, using it to build the slatted fence around the backyard. Rainbow Warrior New Zealand flax, a perennial, complements the material, while off-the-shelf pavers helped keep costs down.

Trowbridge leads the way to the geometric fire pit with built-in benches, the ideal spot for an evening cocktail or s'mores roast.

The gutters run off a scupper into a box of gravel, which drains into a 5,000-gallon underground tank, providing enough irrigation to sustain a vegetable garden and other native plants.

An enormous bi-fold door from Sun Paradise peels back to open the upgraded kitchen-dining area to a new raised terrace. The home's exterior is wrapped in an insulated render system.

From the deck you really get a sense of the two main volumes of the house. One faces inward and the other out, a fine representation of Boone's ideas about the division between work space and living space.

Maggie Treanor waters plants around her rural home.

The new gabion walls were designed to find a rustic sympathy with the house’s foundation.

A wood-lined outdoor shower adds a modern touch to one of the decks.

Barbara Hill's Dancehall/House in Marfa, Texas September 14, 2010 Misty Keasler