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The two structures' gabled roofs can be prominently seen from the street, alongside its all-over black siding.

The table and chairs are pieces that the client had from before. A HAT pendant light from Luke Mills hangs over the table. The dining nook is lined with custom storage created by Carter Williamson that includes a curved cutaway to echo the round table and allow for comfortable movement. The backsplash and the countertop are both cut from elegant Cararra marble slabs.

Thanks to Kabina’s clever system of interlocking joints, all you need is a rubber hammer to assemble it.

The outdoor terrace folds up, and the roof can be detached so that the container home can be easily relocated.

The box, lacquered in a deep green, works with warm golds and violets and brown tones found elsewhere in the apartment to play off the cool concrete ceiling and wall. Contrasting materials and colors and carefully crafted details make a home that is at once cool and cozy.

Before Ester Bruzkus Architekten transformed the top-floor apartment into a cozy home for a Berlin couple, the empty apartment had floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides and exposed concrete walls on the other sides. Rather than create a series of conventional rooms that would close off the sense of openness, a single millwork box was positioned away from the walls to make rooms between it and the existing walls.

In Austin, an auxiliary guest house in the yard is a common sight; a guest house on the roof, less so.

Built by Sheehan Built Homes www.sheehanbuilthomes.com

Bernier’s firm designed the built-in storage, seating area, and kitchen island to be intentionally abstract, directing attention to the forest outside. Cabinetmaker Pixel & Scie manufactured the furniture.

Before: The bedroom was converted to a library/office, so it’s now an ancillary space off the main circulation corridor that bisects it.

Stefanie sits on a Resource Furniture Murphy bed. It conserves space and 82-year-old Irmhild Liang finds it easy to open. “Building the ADU made sense because we wanted to be closer to my mother. You don’t realize how lonely your parents can be—and how much more they might be doing,” she notes.