Collection by Ben Heinrich
Exterior
“Sustainability is very important to us,” lead architect Heather Dubbeldam says. “It is easy to design with passive systems, to use passive sustainable principles to influence the design and layout of the house.” Her team reduced the need for air conditioning and artificial lighting through carefully positioned doors and windows that draw in natural light and breeze. New insulation, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and low-energy lighting also minimize the homeowners’ dependence on utilities.
When the Zimmerman family settled in Seattle, Washington, in the late 1990s they bought a 1,100-square-foot Craftsman built in the 1920s. Fast-forward to today. Not wanting to leave their beloved neighborhood, but hurting for space, they enlisted the help of local design-build firm Ninebark to create a separate living area. Working from sketches that the residents had from their uncle, Gary Schoemaker, an architect in New York, Ninebark realized a refined structure that serves as a playroom, office, and guesthouse for visitors, complete with a kitchenette and full bathroom.
Fusion Landscape Design worked with PATH to remake the backyard into a grown-up playground. Under the stairwell sits a tiny custom cedar sauna and an outdoor shower—just a literal hop, skip, and jump away from the sprawling in-ground eight-by-ten-foot hot tub. Down three short stairs, Gloster’s Elan dining table from Design Within Reach is surrounded by Spark chairs by Don Chadwick for Knoll and a built-in fire pit and DCS grill by Fisher & Paykel—all resting on a smooth surface of bluestone pavers.
Yvette Leeper-Bueno and Adrian Bueno’s home, on West 112th Street in New York City, is recognizable by its two-story bay window angled to bring light and views into the dark, narrow structure. "There’s a threshold of planting between the outside and inside,” says architect Laura Briggs, citing the blooming boxes on the sidewalk, the rear deck, and the master-suite terrace (above the bay window). Photo by Adam Friedberg. See how the rooms stack up inside the narrow shell.