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The flooring switches from warm, engineered white oak in the living room to concrete in the kitchen to make cleaning a breeze.

Bi-fold doors open up a corner of the pool house to connect the internal jacuzzi with the external patio and beach.

In October 2017, the catastrophic Nuns fire incinerated the ’70s-era A-frame in Napa County, California, that had served as a family retreat for 20 years and that the owners, who are mostly retired, were in the process of turning into their permanent home. (When the fire hit, the couple had already brought nearly all their family keepsakes and heirlooms, making the loss especially poignant.) Working with architectural designer Brandon Jørgensen, the couple turned the loss into a chance to build what is now their permanent home with fire resistance baked into the design.

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.

Kyu Sung and Jung-Ja take in the view from the rear deck. Behind them is the house Kyu Sung designed for the couple and their children in 1989.

The backsplash is covered in Clé Tile, and the counters are Carrara marble.

"The homeowner describing that he loved the mossy, fern understory brought the idea to my mind to be up in the trees," says architect Russ Tyson.

Englishman Bay Retreat resides on a plot of land next door to the homeowner’s parents’ property; he remembers traversing it as a child to get to the pebbled beach. Clad in hardy local hemlock and raised on galvanized steel piers with board-formed concrete wrapping the ground floor’s mechanical systems, the residence is designed to endure through the ages.

The landscaped patio provides separation from a public walkway along the rear of the home. "We could have had bigger rooms, but we wanted more outdoor space.” says Anton.

A built-in desk creates an office area for two at one end of the living room.

The Nook

The Nook detail - storage

Axonometric 1

Edgeland House, built on a cliff-top lot in Austin by architect Thomas Bercy for lawyer and writer Chris Brown, is topped by a living roof to help it blend into the landscape. The concrete, steel, and glass house is divided into two distinct public and private halves.

The tranquil bathroom pairs two types of tile with similar tones.