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“We wanted to give guests the experience of entering the cabin while walking down the slope of the hill,” they say. The decks and cabins float above the terrain and direct guests towards to the harbor.

Greg Knapp and Robyn Traynor worked with architect Peter Braithwaite to design a nature retreat for their family on a slice of Canadian wilderness. It has two shed-roofed structures joined by a boardwalk elevated above a pre-existing walking path on the couple’s land.

The home, positioned on empty yard space next to the lot’s primary residence, is largely made from secondhand scraps. “Reclaiming materials makes financial sense, and it makes environmental sense—for us, that’s huge,” Maddie says, referencing the metal, wood, and more bits and pieces they repurposed to build the ADU.

After clearing the site of refuse and its disused, tumbledown structures, Jai and Lindsay erected a steel kit-of-parts framework for the barnlike workshop, which they positioned overlooking the tree line of Douglas firs in the valley below.

Architect Jai Kumaran and his partner, Lindsay Merkle, transformed a badly neglected ridgetop property in Scappoose, Oregon, into a retreat, completing a 3,000-square-foot prefabricated workshop and studio suite as the first phase of a larger planned creative compound where they could live, work, and gather with family and friends.

Powder Bathroom

The powder room features Teselle tiles.

While the pods are insulated for both sound and temperature, they come with an AC unit hidden within the built-in bench (bottom left) just in case.

A cabin can also be made into a sauna, if you so please.

Given that the cabin is just over 100 square feet, a building permit is usually unnecessary.

One of the home's five bedrooms features a dramatic wall of windows at one end of the home.

“The tent-like shape resembles a mountain. When the snow falls, the triangle becomes embedded in the landscape,” Tham says.

Vika Living officially began selling the Vika One models in September this year. "We have several million right now between letters of intent, deposits and contracts in the US alone,

"This home was created for a family who have been residents of the islands for more than 40 years,” the architects explain. “Elevating the building forms a cold air chamber under the structure that keeps the structure cool. The walls next to the roof generate a double space separated by the structural beams, thus forming another air chamber that ensures ventilation of the interior skin. Perforations in the floor and walls allow a cross supply of air.”