Cabins

San Francisco–based Studio PLOW brought its sleek aesthetic from the big city to the redwood forest, transforming this weekend retreat from dark and dated to bright and modern.

Built as a live/work space for a sculptor, Indigo by Dutch practice Woonpioniers is an eco-friendly, prefabricated cabin with bent wooden walls.

Comprising 11 modules, this green-roofed prefab was built in 90 days in a factory near São Paulo and then transported to the site in three shipments on flatbed trucks.

"My goal was to carry on the client’s family legacy by creating a very special place that took inspiration from the landscape,” explains architect Tom Kundig.

The concrete foundation was poured on top of a rock outcropping, so that the house would feel like part of the natural features of the site.

Mill Valley Cabins

The master bedroom overlooks the landscape through a glazed gable wall, which is shaded with a deep overhang.

Generations of family have lived on this wooded, waterfront site, where architect Will Randolph has built a weekend getaway for less than $70,000.

Perched quietly on the dunes of New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, Hut on Sleds serves as a small, sustainable beach retreat for a family of five.

At Vietnam’s forested resort Ta Nung Homestay, Ho Chi Minh City–based Mỹ An Architects designed geometric pine-clad cabins as a collaborative live-work space for resort employees. Two cabins, totaling 5,400 square feet, are connected by an expansive shared timber deck that is elevated on stilts, hovering above the forest floor.

The 2019 Polydrops trailer weighs 760 pounds.

Located on the Imingfjell mountainside in Norway, this minimalist, 785-square-foot cabin features a "hood" in response to the climate and the region’s strict building regulations.

The front and rear facades of Cabana Don Juan are made of glazed units framed in glass. The sides are made of fiber cement panels.

Passing the rain garden on your way back to the house, watch out for the local wildlife, from herds of deer to soaring eagles, to the local Bengal cat. The rain garden is the Barn Gallery's most talked about landscaping feature;  if you're lucky enough to be there when it rains you can see it in action.... Sustainability is exemplified by the rough fir siding, re-purposed from an old movie prop storage warehouse in Los Angeles. Every piece of reclaimed wood and metal inside or outside the house has a story to tell.

A luxurious rural retreat that doesn’t skimp on comfort, JR’s Hut is an off-grid glamping destination with spectacular views of the 7,000-acre Kimo Estate in Australia.

The top priorities for Chalet M—a small, plywood cabin in the suburban area of São Lourenço da Serra in São Paulo, Brazil—were to ensure the lightest possible footprint on its forest site, and to maximize the experience of being one with nature for its owners.

In Texas, where everything is bigger, Ryan McLaughlin is placing his bets on something small. Specifically, a simple 160-square-foot cabin that he hopes city-dwellers will book to get away, find some focus, and reconnect with nature. The result is a laidback, pitched-roof cabin in which every inch of space is thoughtfully allotted so that guests can spend the maximum amount of time outdoors.

Nestled in the woods of Cairngorms National Park, the Inshriach Bothy inspired the creation of the Artist Bothy series: customizable prefab cabins that can be purchased starting at $36k.