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The original layout was very much of the time: a perfect midcentury modern flow, with a closed-off kitchen and a fire put in the floor. “They were cool but impractical spaces,” says Schaer.

“I walked in and thought, this room wants to be low,” says Kirsten. Friends in Amsterdam had the same sofa. “The kids would jump all over it, and I love that kind of feeling. I wanted to bring that to our house.”

Shannon Richards, Caleb’s partner, often uses her laptop at the 13-foot long banquette, which needed to be finessed a bit because the initial version looked too bulky. The team laid the maple floorboards at an angle and used a white-tinged stain that will preserve their natural appearance.

The home’s modest size meant Caleb did not have to worry too much about material and labor costs. For example, all the interior walls are done in plaster, which is three-to-four times more expensive than drywall in Maine.

The perimeter countertop is made from waxed cold-rolled steel. “I like materials that get better with age; this will fill up with color,” Caleb says.

“Using only wood to form a cabinet results in artistic moments. Diagonals read as decorative, but these strong triangles are necessary when you’re not using plywood,” Caleb says. “It’s pure joy to use the kitchen, knowing that all parts of it are built with meaning and without compromise.

“I like the darkness of walnut. Other woods tend to yellow if you don’t stain it, while walnut stays true to itself,” Caleb says. The white glass tile backsplash melds with the wall.

The insides of the carcass are as beautiful as the exposed faces. “You can’t capture a piece of solid wood in a frame or it will expand, contract, and crack, so we re-assembled our leftover walnut strips to infill the framework,” Stuart says.

Local artist John Bisbee created a decorative screen out of nails for the end of the base cabinet. Stuart built the drawers using traditional wood-on-wood slides and proportionally spaced dovetails, which operate differently in summer and winter. “Those idiosyncrasies effect the way you interact with it,” Stuart notes. “The kitchen is experiential in that way.”

The family home that residents Tyler Lepore, Lisa Giroday, builders Hanson Land & Sea, and September Architecture devised in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, is wrapped with cedar and brick, tying to its wooded surround, which is only a four-minute walk to the ocean. "The house feels like it's part of the setting,

The kitchen showcases stainless steel counters created by Tyler, a metal fabricator. The greenery from the outdoors pours in through the large windows, creating connection between the interior and the exterior.

Custom white oak shelving separates the media/guestroom from the kitchen.

2020 is canceled due to the Coronavirus—but here’s your opportunity to take advantage of time spent at home.

For the couple’s shared office, which is windowless, the team installed backlit panels to give the illusion of daylight entering the room.

Witklipfontein Eco Lodge is off the grid, and features solar panels and solar water heating on the roof. Water is pumped from a borehole, used, and then treated in a French drain before it goes back to into the ground.

New ash wood “stairage” (stairs with built-in storage)

"My wish for the bathroom was for it to feel like walking along a creek through the Tasmanian wilderness,