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The outdoor areas were designed with two perspectives in mind. “Typically people focus on making the house look beautiful from the outside,” says Briana. “Because of all the windows, I wanted to also consider how we experience the outside from the inside.

“We always want to feel the carpentry in our projects. Our goal here was to show the wood of the structure as much as possible,” says architect Jean-Baptiste Barache.

In the living area, Jeremy, left, and Joe relax on a green Muuto sectional. “We never would have chosen it on our own,” says Joe, extending praise to their architects for nudging them to take chances. “Now we can’t imagine any other sofa. It’s perfect.” The velvet sofa upholstery in Moss is from Knoll, while the rug is from Armadillo.

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.

With a home for his family along the Mississippi River waterfront, architect Barry Yoakum aimed to achieve the highest standards of energy performance and carbon mitigation without compromising on design. A modern anomaly among its historically styled neighbors, “the house is a fresh, authentic approach to climate change but also a piece of architecture,” he says. Its Pac-Clad aluminum panels with Bone White Energy Star coating reflect light differently from minute to minute while reducing solar heat gain. “The house will age well over time,” says Barry, who expects the cladding to have a long life span.

More than 60 plant species were used in the layered design.

Conveniently located in their backyard, the office allows the couple to run their practice while staying close to their kids.

In a Cape Town suburb known for its views of Table Mountain, architect Liani Douglas transformed a rundown, 80-year-old cottage into a house for her friend, Derek White, that embodies their shared design sensibilities. In the leafy neighborhood, the house announces itself with a pair of arched doorways at the front gate and the entry.

Elena Stein in the kitchen of the weekend cottage she shares with her husband, Roland, their three teenage children, and the family dachshund, Lucy, in the quiet hamlet of Seeland, three hours north of Berlin.

The Hijau stone swimming pool finish from Palimanan.

Emerald-green herringbone tile adds color to the roll-in shower of British TV presenter Sophie Morgan.

The house that stood on the lot before was the same square footage as just one townhome, but Chris was able to maximize the amount of usable outdoor space by adding backyards and a garden between his and Miranda’s unit and the street.

The renovation included replacing the apartment’s vinyl floors with resin throughout and installing a new kitchen by Kvik.

Clinton’s passion seems more urgent than ever against the backdrop of one of the worst bushfire seasons on record in Australia. Fittingly, he has designed a new home for himself, his partner, and their three children to be an eye-catching emblem for the cause.