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Brian rescued and transported the 1830 Chebogue schoolhouse from a community near Acadia, his hometown. Clapboard siding and cedar shingles make up the exterior walls and roof while wide pine boards were used for the flooring and wainscoting.

The relatively simple construction incorporates clever sustainable design: a two-level wood roof structure keeps the sun’s heat away from the interior, and small windows at either end facilitate powerful cross-ventilation. It’s natural air-conditioning, and it works beautifully.

“We did our best to tuck the buildings into the site—the goal was to get up high on a perch. It was a matter of setting that elevation and working back down with the topography.”—Riley Pratt, architectural designer

Firewood abounds at this historic homestead that was converted from a neglected farm in rural Germany into a sustainable and modern vacation village by an artist couple from Amsterdam. The sauna is powered by the stacked firewood outside, which keeps it at 70 degrees -- a warm, enveloping temperature that is gentler on the circulatory system.

Designed by Taliesin student Dave Frazee, the Miner's Shelter in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a 45-square-foot dwelling that responds to its harsh desert environment with a special metal cover that keeps it shaded at all times. Copyright Nathan Rist.

Tree Hotel in Sweden is known for its array of unique dwellings from their Bird’s Nest to the UFO, all of which are suspended above ground. Husband-and-wife owners Britta Jonsson Lindvall and Kent Lindvall enlisted several different designers to develop their contemporary tree house community, which has garnered international interest. One of the most iconic of their dwellings is the 13' by 13' Mirrorcube made of reflective glass, straddling the trunk of a pine. From the outside, it appears as if there’s nothing there at all, while inside, warm interiors are swathed in light plywood with three windows, a sky light, and balcony hidden behind the mirror facade—which means you can step outside the box without being seen.

The Outward Bound cabins, designed by the University of Colorado Denver's design-build program, have steel frames that lift the structures above a three-foot snowpack while supporting corrugated-steel "snow roofs."

This dreamy, glass bedroom by the lake was created as an early prototype for the prefabricated greenhouse/she kits known as the Kekkilä Green Sheds.

Architect Bill Yudchitz asked his son, Daniel, to help him create a self-sustaining multi-level family cabin in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

A double-height glass wall looks out onto the home’s courtyard entrance.