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The designers introduced new Alaskan yellow cedar glulam beams for the updated roofline and windows by Pella. The front door is painted in Sherwin Williams "Rose Colored."

Scott Specht of Specht Novak Architects designed a 1,200-square-foot home in Austin for him and his wife, Shiraz Bakshai. The house features 2 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, and, notably, no exterior-facing windows.

Fittingly, the brick was painted "Country Living

A glass entry connects "Cabin 1" and "Cabin 2", creating a sunny space in between.

The window shutters were removed, old windows were replaced with new windows without muntins, and new siding with a vertical emphasis was installed.

The front elevation was largely unchanged in scale and form, but the color of the siding, window frames, and roofing was darkened. The one exception is the front door, which serves as a light contrast.

Aleksandra and Daniel removed the gray stucco, which revealed the original lap siding underneath was rotting, and replaced it with fiber cement siding board from Hardie instead.

The first design scheme for the cottage was "too fancy

A view of the front door, made of local lapacho. Above it, the second level is enveloped in wood cladding, whose deep brown tones are starting to fade and lighten. “We like that very much,” says Smud. “And the plants are growing and advancing over the wood.”

The couple worked with Seattle-based firm SHED Architecture + Design on a remodel. At the front door the glass clerestory and sidelite were kept, but the solid door swapped out for a transparent one.

A palette of stone, concrete, and greenery greets guests at the home’s front entrance.

The front door—which was crafted by Kolbe from walnut timber—blends seamlessly into the walnut cladding of the entrance hall, creating an elegantly understated first impression. The nine-foot-tall window frames the view, and allows abundant natural light into the interior.

After the Concrete, Washington, house where he grew up burned down, New York architect Jes Paone rebuilt it as a vacation home for himself and his family. With no original plans to work with, Jes relied on a few site cues but mostly his memory.

The house opens to the central courtyard, where the swimming pool is a hit in the summer. The space is lined with Leuder’s limestone. “This was a place where we inverted the suburban house model, where there only put stone or brick on the front,” says Legge. “Here, we put it on the inside. It’s a perfect square, and it acts as an anchor, but you can see it from all sides.”