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Playing with ideas of nature and abstraction, together the pieces reminded us of being in a funhouse version of a greenhouse.

The Hood River Residence features a generous outdoor patio area that collects the public spaces of the home into one large indoor/outdoor entertaining space.

A Nova Scotia couple learn that although triangular homes may look simple, they can be devilishly complex.

“We pulled apart one volume and staggered it along the buildable area of the property,” says architect Matthew Ahlberg of Portland firm Barrett Made. The home is clad in unfinished cedar, meant to weather over time.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

The Pardee House in Midland is an example of Dow's work with the unit blocks that would define much of his early career.

The open-plan kitchen, dining area, and living space are arranged in a 16-square-foot volume that features a vaulted ceiling, lending a sense of spaciousness.

Ciguë

An architect and construction engineer couple build a sustainable, 624-square-foot abode for $221,580 in their Southeast Portland backyard.

The new, attached ADU is rented out as a passive source of income that is helping Amanda finance the project.

Floor plan of Farouki Residence by Farouki Farouki

Tasked with renovating a 1950s ranch in Northern California, Ogawa Fisher Architects revived an existing Japanese garden at the center of the home as a central organizing element. Low-slung, wide decks (inspired by the Japanese “engawa,” or elevated walkway) and deep roof soffits expand the living spaces, frame views, and blur the boundaries between inside and outside. The garden is the second of three courtyards that orients the various wings of the home from front to back, creating a vast sense of openness while also maintaining privacy from other areas of the house and the street.

The DeBoer’s vision was a seamless integration with the park made possible with mature plantings and careful planning of the landscape architecture. It took 11 days, a massive crane and and all hands on deck during the planting phase. One of the trees was brought in on a flatbed semi and weighed 7000 lbs!

Loon Lake Retreat floor plan

The corner window offers an off-centre view of the garden, while the corner window seat has an elevated position over the garden. “The window seat cantilevers the main line of the house in both directions, emphasising the effortless nature of the corner itself,” explains architect Simon Feneley. “With no corner post, the structure was detailed with the structural engineer to achieve a feeling of lightness and to keep all timber sections as slender as possible.”

Mount Veeder Cabin by Risa Boyer Architecture floor plan

Walnut built-ins store household odds-and-ends, clothing, and create a desk for work.

A 16-foot-wide, multi-slide door leads from the main living area to a covered patio.