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Just north of central Johannesburg, the home is a block away from Parkhurst's shopping drag—4th Avenue.

The back deck features an outdoor shower designed by Scott. Made of stainless steel and brass components, it uses a garden watering nozzle for the shower and foot-wash heads.

The interior is lined almost entirely in birch plywood panels.

Reflecting the diversity of the Maine forest, the kitchen island and floors are maple and the stools are oak. A colorful painting by Jenny Prinn provides contrast.

Family members have their own areas in the mudroom. Each is equipped with a hanging basket and a repurposed teak shower mat.

A breezeway complete with swings connects the front and back decks. “We knew we wanted a covered entry, but we left it open to create a larger outdoor space,” says Scott, who admits to occasionally using the swings himself. Mud guards are built into the Kebony decking to keep dirt from being tracked inside. The teak chairs are by Skagerak.

Designed by the original owner, the cabin was imagined as a retreat for her and her siblings' young families.

Donate, Isabelle’s mother, takes in the view from the dining table over a cup of coffee. “You can quietly take your breakfast here and wait for the sun to come into the room, looking out at the beautiful old cherry tree,” says Isabelle. “When the weather is nice, with the sliding doors open, we feel directly in contact with the garden.”

Like the other corner rooms, the bathroom has a large window and a door to the outside.

The sloping metal roof extends well beyond the house and the narrow deck that runs around it. “The roof protects from the sun and the rain and also creates shadow,” says Barache, adding that “beauty is in the shadow.”

The cork flooring from the den continues into the primary bedroom, which opens to a semi-private outdoor garden.

In the primary bathroom, Mariana picked a Portuguese marble in desert pink for the countertops and shelf. "I love the contrast of the pink with the green and the wood,

The countertop and backsplash are Mother of Pearl polish slab, and the hood is custom made out of copper.

In the kitchen, designers Alfie Koetter and Luke Studebaker worked with woodworker Aaron Hauser of Mason Haus to create custom new millwork inspired by the look and feel of the original cabinetry. Hauser sourced sequence matched natural birch that was rotary cut to create the cabinets.

The breakfast nook of Mariana van Zeller and Darren Foster's kitchen blends original details of the 1960s home with new insertions, plus keepsakes from the couple's travels around the world.

The home’s basement sits higher on the ground, which allowed the team to incorporate above-grade Marvin Elevate windows. “It gives us more light so that the basement doesn't feel like it's a subterranean space,” says builder Tom Kenny. The ground-level windows are designed to withstand the rain, snow, and ice that will pound their surface in the harsh Chicago climate. Aesthetically, the sleek profile complements the Marvin Ultimate windows elsewhere in the home. “It matches the design seamlessly,” says DeBaker. “Nobody knows that it's a different window.”