Cabin Ideas

A glowing home in Japan has milky-white, one-and-a-half-inch plastic sheets wrapped around the exterior to let in light and provide insulation.

Marco V. Morelli says his Studio Shed is the perfect refuge. “It’s changed my life for the better,” he says. “I’ve gotten so much more work done, and I think my marital relations are much better because I have a place of my own.”

In the kitchen, Echo pendants from Tech Lighting hang above quartz countertops from Cambria. “The cabinets were a cost-driven solution,” Moss says. “The kitchen was developed around Ikea cabinet boxes, but we sourced the semi-custom cabinet front panels through an online retailer, 27estore.com.” The range is by Frigidaire and the wall-mounted range hood is by Cavaliere. A pair of Lyra stools by Design Group Italia for Magis round out the space.

Architect Andrew McAvoy created an earth-sheltered house in Scotland for Gavin and Angelique Robb and children Scarlett and Gus.

Passive ProgressiveStunning bamboo covers this house in Bessancourt, France, on all four sides, its lattice making up a striking set of adjustable screens that allow the residents to modify the facade to suit the weather. Photo by: Nicholas Calcott

Consisting of two barnlike volumes set atop a stone foundation, the Depot House by Gray Organschi Architecture offers a locally rooted vision of New England modernism.

The exterior of a floating house in Seattle is clad with fiber cement panels from James Hardie painted in three slightly different hues: Fiery Opal, Navajo Red, and Rich Chestnut by Benjamin Moore.

A bright-yellow “R” sign, from a truck that used to deliver furniture from Jens Risom Design, sets off the southern facade. When Jens designed the house, he stipulated that he wanted cedar shingles, not the asphalt ones that came with the original design from the catalog.

Architects Tiffany Bowie and Joe Malboeuf’s Capitol Hill, Seattle, infill project was completed for $189 per square foot. Its street-facing facade is clad in prefinished siding from Taylor Metals, and cedar shaped and cut with CNC technology. The couple was inspired by the porthole windows of the Maritime Hotel in New York City, one of their favorite buildings.

Photo by Patrick Barta

Clad in cedar, this 2,600 square-foot prefabricated home was constructed in a mere two weeks. The home's southern facade, seen here, keeps the home comfortable year-round: in colder months, the low winter sun easily streams though floor-to-ceiling windows to warm the interior. In the summer, when the sun is higher in the sky, the overhaning balcony keeps the interior shaded and cool. The architects also turned the repetitive architectural style of the neighborhood's homes—in this case, the classic gabled house—to their advantage by devising an open, seemingly-unfinished roof framework. While that shape maintains the visual continuity of this modern design with its traditional surroundings, it also has environmental benefits.

Designer Jens Risom returns to his 1967 prefab off the coast of Rhode Island, readying it for his family's next generation. Photo by Floto + Warner.

On the north-facing facade, it’s easy to discern where the original glass doors used to open directly to the deck. In spring of 2012, Block Island contractor John Spier replaced the entire wall of glass panels.

In the living and dining area of Jean Risom's Block Island family retreat, mostly vintage Risom furnishings share space with a few new additions, the view facing north is framed by the wall of glass. Photo by: Floto + Warner

Mid-century designer Jens Risom's A-framed prefab family retreat, located on the northern portion of Block island, is bordered by a low stone wall, an aesthetic element that appears throughout the land.

The back of the house was designed by owner-architect Caroline Djuric as a contemporary counterpoint to the more traditional front facade. A pergola reaches beyond the roof and over the deck on the second story. An asymmetrical wooden stairway leads down to the garden.