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Rooms were designed with flexibility in mind.

A cantera stone fireplace anchors the living room.

The kitchen can tuck away all of its appliances and even its stove, thanks to a movable oak top.

Designers Christopher Robertson and Vivi Nguyen-Robertson conceived their house as an unfolding sequence of simple geometric forms: a low concrete wall, a concrete cube, and a boxclad in Siberian larch.

It took six weeks to build the formwork for the poured-concrete walls that make up the first floor. Inthe kitchen the floors are raw European white oak, the countertops are Capolavoro granite with a leather finish by Antolini, and the natural oak cabinets are by Varenna.

In the living room, a Stûv fireplace sits near Lori’s favorite place to paint. “We made the southeast corner glass, because that’s where the best view is,” says BCJ principal Ray Calabro.

Cabinetry maker Forest Designs used birch plywood to craft the U-shaped kitchen island, which is topped with quartz from Floform. The Ziro floor tiles in Gris are from Navarti and the contemporary metal edge pulls are from Richelieu. The appliances are from Whirlpool.

Oak and concrete surfaces mingle in the kitchen, where views of the landscape are framed through a window and the sliding glass door that opens onto the cedar-clad patio.

The interior features exposed ceiling beams and concrete walls, and the decor celebrates natural materials like timber and jute.

Architect Miguel Ángel Aragonés’s Mexico City home covers nearly 11,000 square feet. Rombo III spans three stories and is named after its sharp geometry. The home has a predominately white color palette—it's swathed in stucco, sand, and cement, with Spanish travertine floors. However, it takes on the hues of its surroundings—be it the gray or blue of the sky, or a hint of green from the lush foliage surrounding the house. With a meditation pond inside, the space is a serene getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Ridge Mountain Residence was designed to blend into the existing Palm Springs landscape. Cor-Ten steel cladding provides a naturally weathering material, while the concrete structure and flagstone terrace complement the light tones of the surrounding mountains.

Loon Lake Retreat floor plan

The upper volume of the blackened pine–clad home juts out toward the horizon for sweeping views of the ocean.

“The atrium is the first place you enter,” says Leidner. “Traditionally, it’s a hardscaped area with some potted plants, but we wanted it to be more like a full garden, right in the middle of the house.”