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Sliding glass doors and a deck connect the minimalist dwelling to the lush backyard with a giant oak tree. The structure, known as Menlo Park Connect2, was built by Connect Homes.

Why Now, More Than Ever, the ADU Is the Future of Home: Whether it serves as an investment, backyard office, or intergenerational housing, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) has never made more sense.

“We had a child and made a commitment to take care of my mother. We had to figure out a solution for housing us all with the right privacy and comfort,” says Ilga Paskovskis, owner of the Granny Pad.

At one end of the home, the living area features a set of custom vertical windows with a small loft area above. A window seat with built-in storage occupies space over the trailer tongue.

To keep costs low, architect Mark Fullagar fitted this compact cabin with hollow-insulated plywood panels that lend warmth and texture to the interior.

An elegant timber screen at the kitchen maintains a sense of porosity, as well as lets in light and breeze while filtering kitchen mess or activity. The tactility of the Carl Hansen Wishbone dining chairs matches the kitchen screen panels.

The cabin decks all face either expansive views of the ocean or the magical forest of fir trees.

In this sleek kitchen renovation in San Francisco, the kitchen backsplash is an easy-to-clean glass backsplash that mimics the glossy finish of the surrounding white cabinets. Painters accomplished the high-gloss finish on the cabinets of a kitchen in San Francisco by applying a coat of paint, polishing it with very high-grit sandpaper, repeating the process for each layer, then topping it with three coats of clear varnish. "It’s like an auto body," says builder Jeff King. "It’s incredibly beautiful." The island provides shelving space and storage as well as a second sink, an is topped with pietra grigio marble.

Rendered in sharp blue, the timeless motif of Greek Key is used as this kitchen's backsplash. The two-tone pattern is playful and modern against the more traditional white cabinets with molding and raised panels.

The only door to the exterior is the main entry door, which leads from the deck directly to the living space. Large windows in the glazed facade open to the garden.

Bench seating is built into the exterior of the home, beneath the living room window. Deep eaves protect the home from the strong sun in summer months.

The owner was motivated to build his own home to avoid a mortgage and to gain the know-how to undertake his own maintenance and repairs. “I was craving the personal challenge to cultivate a home for myself,” he says. “As it was the beginning of a new adventure, I wanted it to be personal. Also, practically speaking, if I built each piece of the home by hand, I would have a good sense of how to solve problems or improve it, without having to ask anyone else to journey through the forest, down the trail, and up the cliff to make an adjustment.”

"The woman who bought the tiny home has it on an incredible forested block with views over a valley," Adam says. "She bought it after her husband passed away. I know she absolutely loves it, and I think it gave her a new beginning. That's really rewarding for us."

The living room is situated just above the main-level bedroom at one end of the combined kitchen and dining area, where spotted gum flooring contrasts with white-painted pine walls.

A stainless steel chimney painted red pierces through this two-story chestnut-clad holiday pad facing the sea, the handiwork of ECE Architecture's Nick Evans. Built into a sandstone hill in East Sussex, England, the highlights include the kitchen—Evans's wife is a chef—a room enlivened by a shiny 16-foot steel countertop and cabinetry in custom hues of green. For a breezy beach feel, reclaimed roof beams, sawed and painted white, were converted into floorboards.

Elevation of Project Kangaroobie by Modscape

The long, low home sits unobtrusively atop the ridge. Large areas of glazing open the home to the landscape to the south.

The home is respectful to the rural site and champions the view. Thanks to the prefab construction, there was very little earthwork and minimal site impact. This approach also helped to eliminate potential weather delays—which would have been likely as, owing to the high altitude, the area frequently experiences frost and snow in winter months.

An enclosed porch with a fireplace sits between the living wing and the services wing, providing a pivotal point from which the home fans out.