Farmhouse

North of San Francisco, Faulkner Architects draws on agricultural influences to create a striking homestead.

Building the addition upward instead of outward allowed for more space and better views without excavating across the hilltop.

Ten minutes from British Columbia’s prized Whistler and Blackcomb ski areas, this house is located on a small lot atop a hill. Embracing a vertical layout, the upper level is where the open living area, complete with sectional, wood-burning stove, marble island, and spacious dining table, is found. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the forest views are especially heady.

The bedroom wing steps out to the pool. Cor-Ten steel encases the doors and windows, and forms the custom cantilevered canopies.

For this Long Island project, architect John Patrick Winberry rotated the back of the home ninety degrees, designing the main living spaces around an L-shaped corner. This allowed the building to follow the path of the sun and “interact with the interior,” as Winbury puts it, through an abundance of carefully placed Marvin windows.

“The master bedroom is tucked into the trees, which kind of anchors the whole composition and is also appropriate because it’s more private,” says Haesloop. It also provides the couple with a shower that looks out into the woods.

Two hours north of New York City, an unusual barn emerges from a hill just off a country road. Its black siding and bright-red window frames hint at the imaginative playground inside. This space, with its rope-railed catwalk and indoor tent, is just one element of the multifaceted getaway architecture and design firm BarlisWedlick Architects designed for fund manager Ian Hague.

Drawing inspiration from the farmhouse vernacular, the Clinton Corners Residence features gabled structures clad in western red cedar and topped with standing seam metal roofing.

Sleeping Cabin at sunset.

The Pretty Good House movement is growing. New meetups are cropping up around the country—including in Tennessee and California’s Sierra Nevadas. Pictured here, the Meadow View House by Atmosphere Design Build is highly efficient. It features mini splits for heating and cooling, exceeds the insulation requirements for its climate, implements photovoltaics, and filters fresh air without heat loss.

Cantilevered out over the hillside the residence, which also serves as the couple's primary residence, is threaded between the trees, anchored by its concrete foundation which stops just short of the tree’s roots.

A restaurant next to the farm will serve up organic produce. It has a capacity of 300, and diners can take in views of Le Marais and beyond while enjoying a farm-to-table experience.