Escapes

On an 18th-century farmstead in rural Sweden, two Copenhagen designers handcraft a summerhouse that seamlessly melds the modern and the traditional.

"The project is a tribute to the majesty of nature and to the people of Norway," says Schluchtmann, "who not only settled on and cultivated this land, but also have the courage and the taste to add something to these special places that puts the crowning touch on the whole thing."

"We did our best to tuck the buildings into the site—the goal was to get up high on a perch. It was a matter of setting that elevation and working back down with the topography," says architectural designer Riley Pratt.

The Risom plot, located on the northern portion of the island, is bordered by a low stone wall, an aesthetic element that appears throughout Block Island.

This tree house in Sweden with a mirrored exterior by Tham and Videgård Arkitekter is just large enough to host two people.

Linus, Archie, and Olive relax on the home’s cedar-lined front deck that opens off the main living area.

On the more high-tech end are renderings, which were historically done by hand but now are often done on a computer. Whereas architectural drawings provide a flat, orthographic view, renderings provide a more three-dimensional understanding of a space. Renderings can really help those who have trouble visualizing spaces, because they can be so refined and carefully done that they almost resemble photographs.

With design aesthetics akin to the mid-century modern movement in the united states, this exceptional home is perched atop the iconic Queenstown Hill and boasts incredible views. Complete with meticulously manicured grounds, five spacious bedrooms and a fully equipped modern kitchen, this residence is quintessential Queenstown living.

Architect Will Winkelman and landscape architect Todd Richardson collaborated with a client, JT Bullitt, to design a house that blends into its surroundings in Steuben, Maine. The green roof gives the impression that “the ground just jumped onto the roof,” Richardson says.

Floor-to-ceiling windows enclose the living and dining space, flooding the room with sunlight. This warmth is retained by a radiant heating system in the concrete floor, which significantly reduces heating requirements during the night. The exterior features a concrete skirt that’s impermeable to snow pack moisture, and weathering steel panels that are resistant to brush fires.

Eric Logan's guest house is adjacent to his family’s home. The interiors are made up of oiled masonite wall paneling, raw MDF cabinetry, and an oiled concrete floor.

The house that architect Renée del Gaudio designed for her family in Boulder uses energy-efficient Loewen windows on the south facade that incorporate triple-paned low-e glass from Cardinal.

Former Brooklynites, Darren and Cathryn purchased the property in 2013. The passive solar home sits on a sloping site to optimize sunlight.

The house is perched in the midst of an astonishing landscape. The rocky islands here were violently scraped clean by glaciers more than ten thousand years ago.

The clients cite Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mrs. Clinton Walker House in Carmel, California, as a very loose inspiration for the design of their house. From the deck off the kitchen and living area, Miha, nine years old, takes in an uninterrupted view of the Pacific Ocean.

Cedar slats mark the facade of Floating House, Doug and Becca Worple's lake house in Ontario. The architects, MOS, chose materials and shapes that wouldn’t stand out. “They’re really simple, almost Platonic forms,” principal Michael Meredith says. The modest cabin has boat, a gabled roof and a cladding of untreated cedar, a material that shows up on docks and homes along Georgian Bay. “Allowing the buildings to weather seems the right thing to do,” Sample says. And it’s ready for winter: Sliding barn doors seal the place up as an impenetrable box.

Cabins from around the world