CDMX home

Retaining original features like the staircase and terra-cotta tiles has given the refreshed home a sense of age, says Angela. "It's a nice, grounded feeling.

The almost-entirely tallowwood kitchen is custom. Muuto pendant lights, bar stools by Alvar Aalto for Artek, a Vola faucet, and a ceiling fan by Beacon Lighting finish the room.

In the bathroom, the cast iron tub is a Paris flea market find, and the cement floor tiles were designed by Alix and made in Istanbul. “I love to use mosaic tiles in gradations of color,” she says.

A Ptolomeo vertical bookcase by Bruno Rainaldi stands outside the couple’s bedroom, which features a John-John bed from Poltrona Frau and Awa side tables from B&B Italia. The tatami mats are original to the house, which was designed in 2002 by architect Mikio Tai, who worked with George and Mika on updates.

While the exterior of Casa Dosmurs protects the family’s privacy, the interior is free-flowing and fluid. “We want to share all our moments together,” says Benjamín.

The bricks are joined with a red-tinted grouting to give the interior a sense of warmth despite the industrial material palette.

The entrance is surrounded by maple plywood. "We created this wood box that felt compressed within a space that has eight-foot ceilings,

“The house itself was prefabricated and assembled on-site in just 30 days,” Ohtake tells us. “This minimized waste, preserving the area’s flora and fauna.” He collaborated with Ricardo Cardim and Studio Teto Jardim to make the home appear as though it were nestled in the earth. This provided the added benefit of a thermally efficient interior that didn’t need an air conditioner.

After spending several years in Tokyo, a family revamps an American Foursquare with a fresh floor plan, a glassy extension, and an appreciation of Japanese design.

The living room opens to a terrace made of four slabs of black concrete separated by rows of woolly thyme. A fire pit designed by Jørgensen’s firm and Adirondack chairs from Erin Martin Design provide an ideal setting for taking in the scenery, especially at night. “Strangely, the view here really didn’t change a lot,” says Buttons. “The fire came up behind us, jumped around, and spared a lot of the surroundings. I can’t imagine finding another place like it.”