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In Vugrin’s second act with Leonard, some of his work has focused on making the house better for entertaining. Outside, on the front deck, he has converted a built-in planter into a circular bar, a new set of steel barstools playing off the home’s gates and doors. Behind the house, workers have dug footings for a new pool (a deck and cabana to follow).

There are more than 1,200 window panes in the Kellogg Doolittle House. Each week, Vugrin drove to a local glass shop to pick up finished panes and drop off more patterns—and $5,000 in cash. Only the Doolittles know the total cost of the house; new owner Scott Leonard almost certainly paid millions for it.

The Doolittles were famously private, their marble dining table ringed by just five chairs. Leonard has commissioned 18 more, to be positioned around the art tables for dinner parties.

In 2001, after the Doolittles moved in, Vugrin continued designing abroad, living near Cognac, France, and in Carrara, Italy. “I had cut some pieces of marble, like a quarter-inch thick, and I had them leaning up against a window frame, and the light was passing through,” he recalls of a moment of inspiration in his Italian apartment. From that ephiphany sprang the Sputnik-esque lights above the tables, stars illuminating the skeletal forms below.

"Functionally, we have so much more countertop space for prep,

Leah selected light-diffusing sepia-toned reeded glass for some of the upper cabinets because "you can store anything inside and not see any distracting shapes or colors. It feels like old glass from an apothecary, and it ties together the warmth in the oak floor and walnut cabinetry."

Solk Architecture turned this tiny Brooklyn kitchen into a home cook’s dream, complete with an herb garden, a custom island, and cabinetry galore.

A pivot door to the new bathroom with embedded hardware is discretely concealed in the wall, beside the glass bookshelves.

Bathed in Light To help disperse light in the newly opened-up interior, the designers clad the roof over the guest bathroom with Danpalon, a translucent polycarbonate that brings in lots of softened natural light. The walls and door are frosted glass. Says Kyprianou: “You can’t see much through the glass—just silhouettes—so our guests don’t mind!” danpalon.com.au Hung Up With the budget running out toward the end of the project, Kyprianou wanted to avoid forking out for a custom-designed walk-in closet in the master bedroom. So he conceived of a simple and cheap storage solution: drilling holes through the wooden roof trusses and feeding inexpensive aluminum closet rods through. junolightinggroup.com

Greg Knapp and Robyn Traynor worked with architect Peter Braithwaite to design a nature retreat for their family on a slice of Canadian wilderness. It has two shed-roofed structures joined by a boardwalk elevated above a preexisting walking path on the couple’s land.

Floor plan of Arnett Residence by LivingHomes

A recording light lets guests know when Will is working in the recording booth.

A Murphy bed transforms office into a guest room.