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The raised living room and den beneath can be converted into a ground-floor bedroom, freeing up the loft above the bathroom for storage or other uses.

Designed by Arba, the retreat’s enclosed garden provides outdoor space out of the wind while the cuts give it a strong connection with the setting.

The new façade, glazed from floor to ceiling, opens up the house to its natural environment. “We transformed the exterior into a modern wood structure that responded to the surroundings,” says Olle Lundberg, Design Principal at Lundberg Design.

Despite hillside views surrounding the property, the original home had limited window openings and no access out. Opening up sightlines and encouraging circulation through and around the home established a newfound connection to the site.

Simultaneously modern and rustic, a carefully-considered marriage of wood and steel makes the revamped Angwin, California, residence a comfortable and accessible family home.

For the bathroom, local studio Dusty Whipple Designs created a custom concrete sink. It sits within waterproof tadelakt plaster walls that run into the shower and around the room.

Floor Plan of Surrey Microhome by Studio Elle

Architect Elle Bytautaite lives in the apartment with her cat, Tony.

A dry-stacked rock hearth supports a Charnwood freestanding wood stove, which was carefully chosen to fit the scale of the surroundings.

Reclaimed wood covers the ceiling in the main room and bedroom. The large white light fixture was reused from the barn’s previous incarnation, and the sectional is from Interior Define.

The tub sold the downstairs tenants on the unit.

The living room has views of the veranda and kitchen through sliding glass doors.

A Japanese hinoki bowl and stool from Mjölk sit next to a custom hinoki bathtub by Bartok Design in the tub room.

The Lais designed their house to be theirs forever. As such, they were able to make design moves that made sense for themselves but that wouldn't have high resale value, like the Japanese-style master bathroom in the middle of the second floor instead of off of the master bedroom. The traditional setup features bath stools from Muji for washing off.