Colours

After: Inspired by the Murano light fixture hanging over the table, the architects opted for custom-patterned ceiling millwork in the dining room.

The materials for the prefab were chosen to help the lodge blend into the wood. According to the architects, “the lodge features an intentionally limited palette of natural materials, including the same species of timber, western red cedar, on the external cladding and internal lining. Left unfinished, the exterior will weather naturally to a silver-gray color that is reminiscent of the local landscape, which will contrast the cozy, warmer tones of the interior."

Large-format wall tiles create organic texture in a neutral color, consistent with the the rest of the house.

White oak paneling lines the sleeping loft.

The island helps to define and separate the open-plan kitchen, dining, and living areas.

Garden terrace

Rather than a lush garden, the architect opted for a singular green expression. This was done by planting a sole Caesalpinia ferra tree at the atrium - a natural sculptural at the heart of the home.

Mac describes adding the fireplace’s Domingue plaster finish as a real "labor of love." "The end result was a credit to the builder and his team. It really pulled the spaces together, and there is nothing better than the natural light playing with the plaster finish," explains the architect.

The master bedroom is privately located off the main house in a rectangular tower towards the back of the home. The master is complete with custom touches like distressed blackened steel steps that lead down to a private basement garage, as well as cantilevered steps up to a penthouse office.

To add more space to her petite Florence apartment originally designed by Roberto Monsani, architect Silvia Allori incorporated fold-down furniture and storage into the white laminate walls that also support bookshelves.

Architecture doesn’t have to mean building anew. Sometimes, it can mean removing things in order to rediscover an authenticity that centuries of meddling has obscured. In Milan, the private residence of Vincenzo De Cotiis is one such project; an homage to the raw beauty of an 18th-century space, which reflects the architect’s overarching fascination with aging objects.

The oak ceilings are about 16.5 feet high in the living and dining room.

A floor lamp nearly eight feet tall anchors the seating area in the living area. Ceilings that are 12 feet tall at the highest point help the room feel expansive. “We needed to find a way to define different areas in a relatively tight space,” Lachapelle says. It’s the clients’ first experience with an open floor plan. “We raised our kids in an old Victorian, and the farmhouse we live in now is chopped up into tiny rooms save for the studio we just added,” the husband says.

Influenced by Southern California’s Case Study House program, designer Bob Butler conceived a luminous residence and guest house on a sloping lot in Nashville that originally held a red-brick ranch-style duplex. Western red cedar lines the walkway from the carport to the entrance. The Globe lights are from West Elm.

Like the bed and built-in nightstand, the door is by Lloyd’s Custom Woodwork. The WGS stool near the vanity is by Gallotti&Radice.

A new clean and unified access.