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After purchasing the ruins in 2017, Barbara and Andreas worked with Mexico City firm Pedro y Juana to rebuild them into two separate houses.

Dellekamp + Schleich built this C-shaped weekend getaway in Valle de Bravo with a central courtyard that prioritizes play.

Tucked into one end of the garage, a potting area is a favorite of Joan, who is an avid gardener and plant lover. The design team used leftover cedar from the ceilings to create the work surface.

The rebuilt “Idea House,” designed by Holly Freres and David Horning of JHL design. The driveway is permeable to encourage good drainage: crushed granite gravel is installed over a stabilization mat. James Hardie exterior siding is painted in Benjamin Moore ‘White Dove,’ with reclaimed wood used for the entry and garage.

After renting in San Francisco for a decade, DIY couple Molly Fiffer and Jeff Waldman bought 10 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the pair and their friends built a cabin compound complete with sheds, tree decks, a pavilion, a wood-fired hot tub, an outhouse, and an outdoor shower. The cabin is made from locally sourced, rough-sawn redwood, which the couple stained with nontoxic Eco Wood Treatment to give the panels an aged appearance and a dark patina.

The primary bedroom cabin sits in a natural clearing amongst the trees, allowing for a water view and copious sunlight. The boulder-studded coast offers gently sloping paths to the ocean for a quick dip.

Surrounded by forest and accessed via a fairy-tale bridge, the resilient forever home showcases the strength of cross-laminated timber.

Designer Ralph Germann inserted a partially glazed box into a 19th-century barn to form the main living space of Christine Bonvin’s home in Switzerland. Soft light enters through original arrow-loop windows.

“MA03 Library House was designed to meet the requirements of a ceramicist and a lawyer in need of a home capable of holding their extensive book collection as well as providing them with spaces for work and creative activity,” say Fria Folket, the architect behind this cabin in Sweden.

In Darby, Montana, just steps from the Bitterroot River, John Shoemaker and Greg Case built a home base for their fly-fishing group vacations.

The lower terrace, which features a hot tub, is farther down the hill to immerse its users in the landscape.