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Inside, Prime Five Homes aimed to design a “clean, peaceful, uncluttered atmosphere that can allow creative minds to run wild,” Dahan says. Soft white oak was used for the flooring, and recessed ceiling lights delicately illuminate interior spaces. The floating staircase keeps the room open and airy.

“The original backyard was huge and was basically leftover, empty space,” says architect Miguel Rivera. “We reimagined the entire site as a series of interconnected indoor and outdoor spaces—essentially solids and voids that take advantage of the entire site. This approach is much more common in the more compact cities of Europe and Latin America—where my partner, Juan Miró, and I come from—than the typical American suburban single-family house.”

Sometimes all it takes is a little luck. For a young married couple, it came in the form of this rare find: a 19th-century, three-story, single-family home in the heart of Paris. The building was a charmer with good bones, but was in need of some serious care. In a vibrant retrofit by architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier that includes structural reinforcements, the reimagined design is set off with a new floor plan. The lower level now serves as a space for the couple’s children, with the public areas—including an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen—on the floor above. Upstairs, the attic has been transformed into a very large primary bedroom with a green-and-white bathroom suite. The living room (pictured) showcases the firm’s bespoke carpentry work with a beautiful, mossy-green built-in bookcase that frames a new fireplace, and a staircase surrounded by arched doorways that hold hidden storage. “We created visual breakthroughs in order to connect the different spaces,” says Gerlier. “The rounded arches are there to help magnify these moments.”

The living area has a bold, contemporary look with subdued, neutral tones providing a backdrop for small pops of energetic colors.