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Floor plan of Junipero House by Cáceres + Tous

Nokken modular cabin can be customized to suit almost any natural setting.

The weekend house that architect James Cutler designed for Jeff Albertson and Ben Vogt on a remote stretch of Washington State’s Pacific coast fits unobtrusively into its surroundings. The building pad was small, so Cutler stepped the structure up the slope. Rough-sawn red cedar cladding was chosen for textural contrast and its resistance to rot.

The three arms of the Apfel House stretch out to catch the best views of Ranco Lake and the Andes Mountains.

We'll be continually working on the landscape, keeping it as natural as possible,

"In some ways the strongest attributes of the house are probably the outside spaces,” says Court. The original cedar deck was replaced with Kebony decking that wraps around a century-old cherry tree. A pair of Andy rockers from Mamagreen face an ottoman by Kenneth Cobonpue. The accordion doors are a NanaWall SL-60 system that allows the main room of the guesthouse to open completely to the deck.

Instead of installing rooftop solar panels, Alqadi and his friend and partner in the venture, Hillary Flur, built a “solar tree” to provide energy.

Located in the brush fire-prone Meander Valley of Tasmania, the house will be subjected to a wide range of harsh weather conditions, including snow, heavy frost, intense rainfall, strong winds, and the occasional heat wave.

The Monkey House is located in a secondary forest in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest that had been used as a banana plantation decades ago. Brajovic has turned the area, which is located on the border of Bocaina National Park, into an ecological sanctuary called Aldeia Rizoma that’s now home to several eco-friendly homes.

Surrounded by an apple orchard, an evergreen grove, and gardens originally tended by the owners’ parents, Sheffield Residence keeps family memories alive.

A Cor-Ten steel planter running along one side is filled with Carex Ice Dance. “The plantings are minimalist, yet rich in color and texture,” says landscape architect H. Keith Wagner. The wood planters on the top level were custom designed by Kelton Woodwork.

In Sunnyvale, California, architect Ryan Leidner cracked open a 1962 Eichler with a crisp remodel flush with foliage. He replaced the home’s vertical plywood facade with one-inch strips of American red cedar set at two depths. The rhythmic slats conceal a garage door that swings open on a hidden hinge. At the entryway, two massive panes of frosted glass shimmer with light and shadow from the atrium inside. Homeowners Isabelle Olsson and Matthaeus Krenn stand out front.

Over 1,700 square feet of steel decking wraps around the elevated home.

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