Favorites

The garage was converted into the primary suite, and a modern landscaping treatment added, with staggered pavers intertwined with ground cover.

The group continued the weathered steel elements throughout the landscape, designed by friend Catherine Howell, such as in the planter beds at the “afternoon” patio, which faces West.

New concrete pathways, all built by Jake and Antony, are arranged around an artful tool shed, which has a weathered steel wall punched with a pattern from the Faroe Islands in Denmark, where Sigrid is from. “That was a nod to Sigrid’s heritage,” says Bassett. The shed also acts as a privacy screen for the patio below it.

The custom sliding window screens, which shield from solar gain, were designed by the couple and are a modernized reference to the operable shutters that Denise remembers from her childhood in Austria. They first used the idea on one of their apartment buildings.

Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.

A pitched roof optimizes the RPA LivingHome 1 for solar panels.

Photo by Kevin Scott

“We bought the land not knowing what we could build or where. It’s off by itself and pretty isolated,” says Jeff.

David and Mayuko Lai’s Japanese-inspired home hides technology, doors, and storage space with smart solutions.