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A covered terrace runs the length of the home’s common areas.

A patio off the kitchen is built around pine trees adjacent to the home.

The volume containing the common areas holds a living room, dining space, and kitchen, with a patio at the rear.

A combination of sliding doors, strategically placed voids, and large indoor plantings create fluid boundaries between indoors and out. The interior courtyard garden—landscaped with tropical plants and volcanic sand—is visually accessible from nearly every room, including the dining and kitchenarea.

Another water-saving project in Menlo Park includes a rock bed with succulents.

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

Garden

The outdoor space includes a fire pit.

Extra-wide concrete pillars help to support the studio at its core.

The pool and surrounding landscape connect the architecture with the wooded park just beyond the yard. “We used the softer textures of ornamental grasses, Japanese maples, and perennial plantings to balance the rectilinear lines of the pool and the house,” says Josh Myers of Myers + Co. Landscape Architecture.

In the living area, existing built-in seating is complemented by Mies van der Rohe lounge chairs and custom coffee tables by Michael James Moran.

John Brooks and Erik Eaker called on architecture firm Rock Paper Hammer to restore a 1953 ranch home in Louisville, Kentucky, to its modernist roots. The architects had already overhauled the entryway and garage with the previous owners.

“During summer there is so much greenery, and it grows and changes every day. It’s very different in the autumn and winter—even the acoustics are different,